Suspected jihadists kill at least 50 in Burkina Faso

• At least 50 civilians were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists.
• The landlocked Sahel state is in the grip of a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency.
• It claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.9 million to flee their homes.

At least 50 civilians were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists on a village in northern Burkina Faso on Monday, according to government spokesman Lionel Bilgo.

“The army has so far found 50 bodies” after an attack on the village of Seytenga overnight Saturday, according to Bilgo, who added that the death toll “may rise.”

Last week, bloodshed erupted in Seytenga.

Eleven gendarmes were killed on Thursday, prompting a military operation that the army said led to the deaths of around 40 jihadists.

Read more: Hundreds in Burkina Faso protest ‘abandonment’ to jihadists

“The bloodshed was caused by reprisals to the army’s actions,” said Bilgo.

“The country has been hit but the army is doing its job.”

The landlocked Sahel state is in the grip of a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.9 million people to flee fled their homes.

Attacks have been concentrated in the country’s north and east.

The latest raid is one of the bloodiest since a military coup in January when colonels enraged by the insurgency deposed elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

After a brief respite, attacks resumed, killing hundreds of civilians and military personnel over the last three months.

Read more: Ten police killed in Burkina Faso attack