At least 12 soldiers and four paramilitary fighters were killed on Friday in Burkina Faso in an attack by suspected terrorists on a military detachment in the country, the army stated.

"This Friday, April 8, 2022, a complex attack targeted the Namissiguima military detachment at around 5 a.m. (5 a.m. GMT)," the army said in a statement.

"The provisional toll after the fighting is 12 soldiers and four VDP (Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland) dead," it said, adding that 21 soldiers were wounded.

The VDP, poorly trained and armed civilian auxiliaries in the army, have paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorists in Burkina Faso.

Northern Burkina Faso is a flashpoint for attacks by terrorists who started making bloody cross-border raids from neighboring Mali in 2015.

Their campaign has claimed some 2,000 lives and displaced some 1.8 million people.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso has been ruled by a military junta since January.

Mutinous colonels seized power as anger mounted over the failure of the country's elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to roll back the insurgency.

Kabore's successor, Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, has declared security to be a priority.

But a surge of attacks in recent weeks has claimed dozens of lives, both civilian and military.