Attack on mine convoy in Burkina Faso leaves several dead: Canadian company

• An attack on a Canadian mining convoy busing local employees and others to the Boungou gold mine in Burkina Faso.
• Few details were immediately available.
• The company blamed "armed bandits" for last year's attacks.

MONTREAL: An attack on a Canadian mining convoy busing local employees and others to the Boungou gold mine in Burkina Faso has left several people dead, mine owner Semafo Inc. said Wednesday.

The five buses escorted by the military were approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the mine when they were ambushed, resulting in "several fatalities and injuries," the company said in a statement.

Few details were immediately available.

"We are actively working with all levels of authorities to ensure the on-going safety and security of our employees, contractors and suppliers," Semafo said, while offering condolences to the families of the victims.

The mine itself, it added, remains secured and its operations have not been affected.

Semafo operates two mines in the West African country, which is battling a militant revolt that has claimed hundreds of lives.

This was the third deadly attack suffered by Semafo in 15 months. Two others in August 2018 also targeted vehicles travelling to its mines, and a police vehicle was attacked on the same road between the city of Fada and the Bongou gold mine last December.

The company blamed "armed bandits" for last year's attacks, and subsequently reinforced its armed escorts.

Burkina Faso is an impoverished and politically fragile country in the Sahel, and its security forces are badly equipped, poorly trained and underfunded.

The country's northern provinces have been battling a four-year-old wave of militant violence that came from neighboring Mali.

The attacks -- typically hit-and-run raids on villages, road mines and suicide bombings -- have claimed more than 630 lives nationally, according to an AFP toll.

On Monday, an attack on a base in northern Burkina Faso killed at least five gendarmes and five civilians.

Nearly 500,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes.