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Burkina Faso Leader Laments 'Dark Stain' After Attack Kills 24 Soldiers

Reuters

   OUAGADOUGOU - Gunmen killed 24 soldiers in an attack on an army unit in
   Burkina Faso, the deadliest yet in the West African nation's fight
   against Islamist militants, which the president on Tuesday called a
   "dark stain" on the country's history.

   Seven other soldiers were wounded in the attack on Monday and five are
   still missing, the military and President Roch Marc Kabore said in
   separate statements.

   The army, which earlier put the death toll at 10, said it had launched
   a land and air operation in response to the attack in Koutougou, in
   northern Burkina Faso's Soum province.

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