10 militants killed in western Burkina Faso: army

• Burkina Faso's armed forces are leading counter-terror operations with increasing frequency.
• Unrest in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger killed around 4,000 people last year, according to UN figures.

OUAGADOUGOU: Ten "terrorists" died in an offensive against a militant base in the west of Burkina Faso on Thursday, according to the army's chief of staff.

The West African country is battling an Islamist revolt, which has also exacerbated deadly inter-ethnic tensions. Since 2015, nearly 900 people have died and 840,000 have fled their homes.

A unit of soldiers and gendarme carried out the offensive in the rural locality of Worou in Sourou province, said the statement, which was not independently verifiable.

"This anti- militants operation allowed us to neutralise 10 terrorists and to recover weapons and motorcycles," it said, adding that one gendarme was injured.

Burkina Faso's armed forces are leading counter-terror operations with increasing frequency.

The impoverished Sahel country is part of a regional effort to battle an Islamist insurgency, along with Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad.

Their militaries, under-equipped and poorly trained, are struggling despite help from France, which has 5,000 troops in the region.

Unrest in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger killed around 4,000 people last year, according to UN figures.