The incident occurred on Wednesday near Tibou in the province of Loroum, which borders Mali, when the convoy of trucks came under attack by around 100 armed men, the Burkinabe army said.

Two civilians and at least 50 “terrorists” were killed during a “complex ambush” against a food convoy being escorted by troops in jihadist-hit northern Burkina Faso, the armed forces said in a statement on Thursday.

“A unit of the 12th Commando Infantry Regiment (RIC), supported by the 2nd Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), energetically responded to a complex ambush on Wednesday in the vicinity of Tibou,” a locality located in Loroum province, bordering Mali, the army said.

“The units, which were escorting a food convoy for the benefit of the people of Titao, were attacked by a group of terrorists whose number is estimated at around a hundred,” it continued, adding that two military units that had been escorting the convoy counter-attacked, “neutralising at least 50” terrorists.

Two civilians who were part of the convoy were also killed.

Burkina has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of jihadist insurgency that began in neighbouring Mali and Niger a few years earlier and which has spread beyond their borders.

The seven-year violence has left more than 10,000 civilians and soldiers dead, according to NGOs, and internally displaced more than two million people. Around 40 people were killed during the weekend in two attacks near Bourasso.

Burkina, which experienced two coups in 2022, has been ruled since last September by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who has vowed to recapture the 40 percent of the country's territory that remains outside the government's control.

He has also promised to return power to civilians in July 2024, after a presidential election.

Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem de Tambèla told parliament on Tuesday that authorities would “never negotiate (with the jihadists), either over Burkina Faso’s territorial integrity or its sovereignty.”

“The only negotiations that matter with these armed bandits are those taking place on the battlefield,” Tambèla said, while also noting that next year’s elections could not be held without the return of security in the country.