Five members of the security forces were
killed in roadside bomb attacks in eastern Burkina Faso at the weekend,
officials said.
A security official said, a policeman and a soldier were
killed on Saturday when their vehicle struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED)
in Kompienga. Late Sunday, three soldiers were killed in the same area by the
same technique, another official said.
The official also said that, a third person who was in the vehicle was injured and taken to hospital. The attacks bear the hallmarks of jihadist groups whose insurgency in the Sahel spilled over into Burkina Faso four years ago. More than 300 people have been killed, typically in hit-and-run raids, and the capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.
According to a toll compiled by AFP, attacks
using IEDs began in August 2018 and have claimed more than 60 lives. The armed
forces began an anti-terror operation, named Otapuana (“Lightning”), in the
centre and east of the country earlier this month. According to the authorities, it aims at neutralizing
terrorists and destroying hiding places in forests in the region.
