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| - Burkinabe soldiers have "neutralised" eight jihadists and captured three in an ongoing operation in the north and east of the poor West African state, the army said Tuesday. Five were "neutralised" -- the usual term for killed -- by national soldiers and troops of the Burkinabe battalion of the G5 Sahel force on Friday near the northern town of Tasmaka, the army chief of staff said in a statement, describing the operation as an "offensive reconnaissance mission". "Three suspects were apprehended and taken to the gendarmerie for questioning," the statement said, adding that weapons and materiel were seized. On Thursday, following an attack on civilians in eastern Tialbonga, two assailants were killed during a search and sweep operation, it said. The unit killed another jihadist following an attack on army reservists in northern Gasbole, the statement said. The Burkina Faso army launched an operation in the north on May 5 named Houne -- Dignity in the Fula, or Peul, language -- which is expected to last more than a month. Security sources say at least 40 jihadists have been killed. Burkina Faso, a poor, landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, has been fighting a ruthless Islamist insurgency since 2015. In 2017, five nations in the region, all former French colonies, formed the G5 Sahel force, comprising troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Niger and Mali. Army operations such as the current one have so far failed to stem the spiral of violence, which has claimed more than 1,300 lives and caused more than a million people to flee their homes. ab/stb/blb/gd/spm
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