At least 20 people were killed in a series of raids on villages in Burkina Faso’s troubled north, security sources and local residents told AFP Friday.

Armed men attacked three villages early on Thursday in the country‘s northern Yatenga province.

“Yesterday at around 5 am (local and GMT), armed groups attacked the villages of Pelle, Zanna and Nongfaire”, a local resident said Friday, giving a toll of 25 people killed.

There were “many others injured”, the resident said.

Another resident said that “the assailants who came on motorbikes were chased by volunteers (civilian auxiliaries of the army) and soldiers”.

The attack was confirmed by a security source, who put the death toll at “around twenty” adding that search operations were underway to find the assailants.

The attackers “were hit by air support after taking refuge in the Barga forest. Several of them died,” said another security source.

Burkina Faso, which saw two military coups in 2022, has been battling a jihadist insurgency that crossed from Mali in 2015.

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