Ouagadougou: As many as 29 people lost their lives on Sunday (September 8) in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso, West Africa, in a region prone to jihadist violence.

In an official communique, government spokesman Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said that a vehicle, transporting people and goods, "rode over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Barsalogho area" that left 15 people dead on the spot.

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The spokesman further added that around 50 km away, 14 people were killed after food vans, travelling in convoy, were attacked.

"Military reinforcements have been deployed, and a thorough search is underway," Dandjinou said.

Burkina Faso has been struggling with an Islamist militant revolt since 2015, and it ranks among the world's poorest countries.

Jihadists have increasingly targeted the country's Army. 

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Prior to this attack, 24 people were killed in an attack on a military base in northern Burkina Faso, in an unusual blow to the military in its campaign against jihadists.

The insurgency, which had come from neighbouring Mali, began in the north but has since spread to the east.

It is reportedly said that more than 500 people have lost their lives in attacks that have become increasingly violent, especially in the north and the east, since 2015.

It is also said that the capital, Ouagadougou, was attacked thrice, including the March 2018 jihadist assault on the military headquarters that left eight dead.