Cape Town – Authorities in Burkina Faso said that an ambush on a police unit in the country’s conflict-hit north has left at least 11 officers dead and four others missing.
According to a government statement released on Tuesday, the officers were attacked while on a relief mission to Yirgou, a town that has been hit by recent violence.
Burkinabé Security Minister Ousseini Compaore added that joint search operations with the army have been under way since Monday.
Only seven police officers are known to have survived the ambush, authorities from the security ministry said, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities said that there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, though they do suspect Islamic extremists who have been actively violent in the region recently.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the humanitarian context in the cross-border area between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger continues to deteriorate.
Security trends showcase a continuous increase in the number of incidents since the beginning of the year, said OCHA.
In early June, the northern village of Solhan was hit by the deadliest attack since the start of the conflict, with at least 138 people killed, reported news broadcaster Al Jazeera.
The massacre prompted a mass exodus of more than 7 000 families searching for more secure places, said local media.
Burkina Faso on June 17 launched a two-day huddle gathering of governing and opposition parties to discuss the country’s worsening jihadist insurgency, reported AFP.
More than 1 400 people have died and around one million have fled their homes since 2015, when jihadists from Mali widened their campaign into Burkina Faso and Niger.
African News Agency (ANA)