At least 53 members of Burkina Faso’s security forces, seventeen soldiers and 36 volunteers, have been killed during heavy clashes with rebel fighters on Monday in Koumbri commune in Yatenga province, according to a statement by the army.
The security forces had been deployed in the town to enable the resettlement of residents chased out of the area by the fighters more than two years ago, it added.
Burkina Faso has been ravaged by attacks linked to fighters affiliated with ISIL(ISIS) and al-Qaeda that have killed thousands, displaced more than two million people and pushed tens of thousands to the brink of starvation.
