Ivory Coast military camp comes under attack: Sources

At least two soldiers are believed to have been killed and another one wounded when their military camp in northern Ivory Coast was attacked early on Monday, according to four senior military sources and a resident.

The attack occurred at approximately 1am at Kafolo, a northern town bordering Burkina Faso, an official told AFP news agency, adding that further details were unclear.

“The assailants were pushed back and a military operation is under way,” army headquarters told AFP, without further details.

Earlier, unnamed sources told Reuters that two assailants were also killed. Weapons and other military equipment were seized, and Ivory Coast’s troops were carrying out a search operation in the area, one of the senior military sources said.

No official statements have been issued regarding the attack in Kafolo military outpost, which suffered a deadly attack last June. At least 13 Ivorian soldiers were killed in that attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack. An Ivorian army source said the attackers had been identified as from neighbouring Burkina Faso, but this could not be confirmed.

Armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) present in Ivory Coast’s northern neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso have made incursions in southern coastal states, raising fears of instability.

In 2016, 19 people were killed in an armed attack in Grand-Bassam, a vacation resort near Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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