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Burkina Faso says 18 extremists killed after attacking base

DAKAR, Senegal — Burkina Faso says 18 extremists have been killed after they attacked a security base in the north and were repelled.

A defence ministry statement late Wednesday says one gendarme also was killed in the afternoon attack in Arbinda in Soum province. Seven gendarmes were wounded, two seriously. A dozen motorbikes and weapons were seized from the attackers.

The West African country is the latest target as extremists linked to the Islamic State group and al-Qaida cross the border from Mali.

Earlier this week the United Nations sounded the alarm on a humanitarian crisis with nearly half a million people displaced in Burkina Faso and many going hungry.

Burkina Faso saw more extremist attacks in the first half of this year than it did in all of 2018.

The Associated Press