Burkina Faso says 28 soldiers, civilians killed in rebel attacks

At least 28 people, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in two attacks by armed assailants in Burkina Faso, a regional governor and the army said in separate statements.

The army said on Monday that a combat unit in Falagountou, in the north of the country near its border with Niger, came under attack and that 10 soldiers, two fighters of the volunteer force and a civilian were killed.

The latest killings come as Burkina Faso — and its neighbours in Mali and Niger — battle armed groups linked to extremist organizations who have occupied territory in the country’s arid and mainly rural north, executing hundreds of villagers and displacing nearly 2 million people.

The fighters have blockaded towns and villages, worsening a food crisis.