OUAGADOUGOU A homemade bomb killed three paramilitary gendarmes and wounded three more Sunday in northwest Burkina Faso, security sources said. The attack on the patrol happened at Gomboro, in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, a security source told AFP. The injured had been evacuated for treatment and the area was being searched, the source added. Another security source, confirming the attack, said two gendarmes had been killed outright, and one of four others wounded had subsequently died of his wounds. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been the weapon of choice for rebels in the region, and since 2018 they have killed 150 people, according to an AFP tally. Such attacks are often followed by ambushes. Four Burkinabe soldiers were killed and eight wounded early in March by two IEDs that exploded as their vehicles passed them. The attack took place in the north of the country. Burkina Faso’s northwest border is with Mali, and to northeast is Niger, and all three countries are fighting a long-running militant insurgency. According to UN figures, militant attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year.—APP
