Four Burkina police killed near Mali border: security sources

Four Burkina Faso paramilitary police died Thursday in an attack on a base near the border with Mali, a region that sees frequent attacks by jihadists, security sources said.

The base in Barani "was the target of a terrorist attack led by an unidentified armed group at around five am (0500 GMT)," the source told AFP.

Another source reported "major material damage including a burnt vehicle" and said the security forces had launched a search and sweep operation.

The same northern base was attacked in October when one gendarme was killed and three were wounded. An assailant was also killed.

An attack in the east last weekend left five soldiers dead.

The poor desert country, a former French colony, has seen a surge in attacks blamed on Islamist groups -- mainly the Ansaroul Islam group and the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) -- in the last four years. 

At first, they were concentrated in the north but the capital Ouagadougou has suffered three attacks, and they are on the rise in the east.

More than 310 people have died in the attacks since 2015, including a total of nearly 60 in Ouagadougou, according to an AFP tally. 

Last Friday, Human Rights Watch said dozens of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands have fled their homes in the north so far this year.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced, over half of them since the start of 2019, officials have said.

The worsening violence that has engulfed the entire Sahel region has driven around 4.3 million people from their homes, including one million over the past year, according to UN humanitarian officials.

Jihadist groups have gained ground in central Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, while Chad is battling unrest on its borders.