Burkina Faso, Niger force says it has killed 100 extremists

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) - Burkina Faso's military says that its joint operation with Niger's army has killed at least 100 extremist rebels.

The Burkina Faso armed forces said on Friday that its joint force with neighboring Niger also arrested 20 suspects and seized significant equipment from the rebels in the past two weeks.

At least 13 soldiers were killed during this time and seven others were wounded, it said.

The report on the militaries' campaign against extremist rebels comes amid weeks of anti-government protests in Burkina Faso in which crowds have demonstrated against the government's inability to stem attacks by groups allied to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group across the West African nation.

Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore sacked his prime minister earlier this week in what analysts say was an attempt to show a stronger response to the extremist violence.

Escalating jihadi attacks in Burkina Faso this year have killed thousands and displaced more than 1 million people.

Last month saw the deadliest violence against the country's security forces in recent memory, with more than 50 gendarmes killed in the Sahel region.