Twelve Burkina Faso soldiers were killed and eight wounded in an ambush by suspected jihadists near the West African country's border with Mali, the government said Monday.

"Members of the ground forces and the rapid intervention force GARSI were ambushed" in the northwest Boucle du Mouhoun region on Sunday, Communications Minister Ousseni Tamboura said in a statement. "The provisional toll indicates 12 soldiers fallen and eight wounded."