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| - Two policemen have been killed in a fresh attack in the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, which is battling a jihadist revolt, security sources said Monday. The gendarmes, one of them a brigade commander, died late Sunday when gunmen attacked their post near Faramana, in the western province of Houet close to the border with Mali, a security source told AFP. A third gendarme has gone missing. A separate security source added that the local police station was attacked at the same time apparently to prevent reinforcements from being sent. No casualties were reported from the second attack. Farama is an important trading point, located just four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Mali. A police border station in Madouba, in neighbouring Kossi province, was also attacked by gunmen overnight Sunday, another source said. More than half a dozen members of the security forces were killed in jihadist attacks last week. Bukinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Saturday ordered the military to draw up a plan to destroy jihadist bases. The Islamist revolt has also exacerbated deadly inter-ethnic tensions in the impoverished country. Since 2015, nearly 900 people have died and 840,000 have fled their homes. Unrest in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger killed around 4,000 people last year, according to UN figures. Burkina Faso is part of a regional effort to battle an Islamist insurgency, along with Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. Their militaries, under-equipped and poorly trained, are struggling despite help from France, which has 5,000 troops in the region. ab/wai/ri
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