At least 32 defence volunteers and 10 soldiers have died in suspected jihadist attacks in insurgency-hit northern Burkina Faso, officials said in a statement.

A detachment of soldiers and the civilian volunteers “were the target of an attack by unidentified armed men on Saturday… at about 4:00 pm,” near Aorema village, the Ouahigouya governorate said in a statement.

The army said the death toll was 40 eight soldiers and 32 defence volunteers, adding that “at least 50 terrorists” were “neutralised” in the counter-attack, including a number killed in air strikes.

On Sunday, there was “another attack targeting the military detachment of Kongoussi (Bam province, North Central region)”, according to the same source, who reported “two soldiers” killed and “about 20 terrorists neutralised”..

The governorate of the northern region said that 33 people wounded in the first attack were “in stable condition” and currently being taken care of in the regional capital.

According to a security source contacted by AFP, the detachment targeted by Saturday’s attack was charged with ensuring “the security of the Ouahigouya airfield that was targeted”.

“Heavy fighting did indeed take place yesterday (Saturday) night” for “almost two hours,” said a local.

He also claimed that “several airstrikes targeted positions of suspected jihadists” on Friday.

Burkina Faso’s military junta had declared Thursday a “general mobilisation” to give the state “all necessary means” to combat a string of bloody attacks blamed on jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.