One soldier was killed as well as around 15 suspected jihadists who attacked a military unit in northwestern Burkina Faso overnight, the army said Wednesday.

"The Toeni detachment came under attack by a group of terrorists... Unfortunately one soldier was killed," the army chief of staff said in a statement.

The unit's "riposte led to the neutralisation of around 15 terrorists," the statement said.

A security source said the assailants converged on the detachment aboard mopeds and "military vehicles".

In addition to the soldier killed, a "few (were) slightly injured", the source said.

On Sunday, a homemade bomb killed three paramilitary gendarmes and wounded three more in the same Boucle du Mouhoun region, security sources said.

Burkina Faso's northwest border is with Mali, and to the northeast is Niger, with all three countries fighting a long-running jihadist insurgency.

According to UN figures, jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger left nearly 4,000 people dead last year, including 800 in Burkina Faso alone.

Nearly 800,000 people have been displaced since 2015.

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