Burkina Faso: 47 killed in suspected militant attack

An assault on a convoy traveling through the north of Burkina Faso killed 47 people on Wednesday, the government of the western African country reported.

Among the dead were 30 civilians, 14 soldiers, and 3 militia volunteers. The attack took place around 15 miles from the village of Gorgadji, according to the communications ministry.

The government said that security forces killed 58 suspected "terrorists" during the attack. The rest of the attackers ran away. The soldiers had been "guarding civilians setting off for Arbinda," another town in the north of the country.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-Qaida and IS are known to be active in the Sahel region, especially in the so-called "three-border" area where Burkina Faso meets Niger and Mali — close to the location of Wednesday's violence.