ABIDJAN, July 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A spate of attacks blamed on jihadists killed seven police officers and one soldier in Burkina Faso, long riven by an Islamist insurgency, local and security sources told AFP on Monday.

Two of the attacks targeted a police position near the eastern town of Fada N'Gourma, towards the borderlands along the frontier with Niger where many armed groups have dug themselves in.

"Last Monday, terrorists launched an attack against the police post of the university" of Fada N'Gourma, north of the town, a resident told AFP.

In an official document seen by AFP, Wennelebsida Jean-Alexandre Darga, the police director general, gave a toll of seven police officers killed in the assault.

"Three days later, the terrorists again attacked the site of the university... this time causing damage to the building," said a student, who also confirmed the attack of June 30.

That was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic acronym JNIM.

According to a Burkinabe security source, another attack took place on June 30 targeting an army position near Boulsa, in the centre, for which the JNIM has also claimed responsibility.

The security source said that the jihadists killed a soldier and captured two civilian volunteer auxiliaries in the assault.

The JNIM has published a video of the two fighters taken prisoner in a hut, calling on the army-led authorities to "work for their liberation".

Though Burkina Faso's ruling junta, which took power in a coup in September 2022, has promised to make the Sahel nation's security a priority, the country is still plagued by attacks from jihadists and other armed groups.

More than 26,000 civilians and soldiers have been killed in the violence since 2015, according to the conflict monitor ACLED.

More than half of those deaths took place in the past three years, while the junta has been in power.

The military authorities rarely comment on jihadist attacks.