At least ten people were
killed and dozens more are wounded and missing after an attack
on a convoy transporting workers of Canadian gold miner Semafo
in eastern Burkina Faso, three sources said on
Wednesday.
Parts of Burkina Faso have been overrun by Islamist violence
in the last years that the military has been unable to contain
and Semafo tightened its security last year following armed
incidents near two of its mines in the country.
Semafo said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that the
attack took place between its Fada and Boungou mine sites, about
40 kilometres from Boungou, and that there were several
fatalities and injuries.
Two security sources and a diplomatic source said later ten
were killed.
The security sources said the military escort vehicle
leading the convoy was struck by an IED on a stretch of road
where there is no cellphone network.
Shortly after the initial explosion, an unknown number of
gunmen opened fire on the convoy. One of the sources said that
it appeared that they targeted the buses as well as the military
escort, which was unusual.
In December a police vehicle was attacked on the same road,
resulting in five deaths.
When contacted by Reuters about the latest attack, a Semafo
spokeswoman said: "At this point, we do not have full
information and are not in a position to add to this morning's
release."
The Boungou mine is secure and operations are not affected,
the company said.
Its Toronto-listed shares hit a nine-month low after the
news and were trading down 10% by 1755 GMT.
Once a pocket of relative calm in the Sahel, Burkina has
suffered a homegrown insurgency for the past three years, which
has been amplified by a spillover of jihadist violence and
criminality from its chaotic neighbour Mali.
After last year's incidents, which Semafo said were
perpetrated by "armed bandits", the company reinforced its
escorts and decided to transport all expatriate employees by
helicopter between the Boungou mine and Ouagadougou.