Nassoumbou attack

On 16 December 2016, several dozen heavily armed gunmen attacked an army outpost in Nassoumbou, Soum Province, Burkina Faso, about 30 kilometres from the border with Mali, leaving at least 12 soldiers dead and 2 others missing. The attack, carried out by about 40 unidentified gunmen riding in pickup trucks and armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades, was directed at an army base which was significantly damaged in the assault. The soldiers killed were members of an elite army counterterrorism unit. Billed as "murderous" by President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, this was the second direct attack against the Burkina army since jihadist assailants surfaced in the country in early 2015.