No fewer than 11 Burkina Faso police officers were killed while 4 are still missing after their unit was ambushed yesterday by yet to be identified gunmen, the countryβs security minister has revealed.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that the ambush occurred while the unit was on a relief mission to the town of Yirgou, which has been hit by recent violence, Security Minister Ousseini Compaore said in a statement.
‘Joint search operations with the army have been under way since yesterday,’ Compaore revealed.
Attacks by militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are surging across the Sahel region, killing thousands and displacing millions across Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
About 1.2 million people have been displaced by the violence in Burkina Faso.
At least 132 people were killed by insurgents last month in the worst single attack yet.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
