Burkina Faso: Four police among five dead in IED blast

Five people including four police officers have been killed by an explosive device left on a road in eastern Burkina Faso, reports say.

Friday's blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) took place in Boungou, an area that has seen a series of attacks attributed to jihadist militants.

The police officers were providing an escort to goldmine workers, said AFP.

A similar attack killed five police officers in the area in August.

Both attacks took place on the route between Boungou and Fada N'Gourma, one of the main towns in the country's eastern region.

About 40 members of the security forces have been killed in IED attacks since August.

Jihadist attacks in the country have killed at least 230 people since 2015, with the north and east particularly affected. There have been three attacks in the capital Ouagadougou.