Gunmen kill two MSF workers in west Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Armed assailants killed two Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) employees in west Burkina Faso on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the medical charity said, the latest reported attack in a country grappling with a violent jihadist insurgency.

The victims were in an MSF-branded car travelling from the town of Dedougou to Tougan in Sorou province.

Gunmen opened fire on the vehicle, killing two MSF employees, while two others managed to escape, a spokesperson who did not wish to be named told Reuters via WhatsApp.

A security source confirmed the attack.

Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries grappling with militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

The insurgency blighting the Sahel region south of the Sahara took root after a Tuareg rebellion in Mali in 2012. It has spread to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and more recently to coastal states despite costly international efforts to contain it, killing thousands and displacing over 2 million in the process.

(Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Leslie Adler)