Burkina Faso Army Kills 80 Militants in Two-Pronged Attack

(Bloomberg) -- Burkina Faso said the army killed 80 militants in a two-pronged attack on a military post and the northern town of Arbinda, the latest deadly incident in a conflict between the West African country and an Islamist insurgency.

Ground troops and fighter jets pursued the assailants following a battle that lasted several hours near the border with Mali, an army spokesman said in a written statement on Tuesday.

Seven soldiers were killed and 20 injured, a government spokesman said in a separate statement. As the militants fled they killed 35 civilians including 31 women, according to the statement.

Burkina Faso has been engulfed in fighting since militants in Mali, under pressure from French special forces, shifted their focus eastward. The speed with which they have spread has caused the country’s worst humanitarian crisis, while hundreds of people have died in hit-and-run attacks by gunmen on motorbikes.

The Burkina Faso government said earlier this month it will step up spending on defense and security to counter the attacks.

--With assistance from Katarina Hoije.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Gongo in Ouagadougou at sgongo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pauline Bax at pbax@bloomberg.net

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