"On four occasions between January 16 and January 23, 2022, groups of terrorists were located, identified, and neutralized by Burkinabe forces and by (foreign) units... in total, nearly 60 terrorists were taken out," the French military said in a statement.

Burkina Faso has been struggling with jihadist attacks since 2015 when militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group began mounting cross-border raids from Mali.

More than 2,000 people have died, according to a toll compiled by AFP.

The national emergency aid agency says that 1.5 million people, nearly two-thirds of them children, were internally displaced as of November 30, 2021.

The country's security forces are poorly equipped to face a ruthless and highly mobile foe, adept at carrying out hit-and-run raids aboard motorbikes and pickup trucks.

On November 14, a force described as numbering several hundred men attacked a police base at Inata near the Malian border, killing 57 people, including 53 gendarmes.

On December 23, 41 people were killed when a convoy of traders was ambushed near Ouahigouya, also near the Malian frontier.