At least five people have been killed, including a priest, following an reported attack on a protestant church in Burkina Faso.

The victims were gunned down around noon on Sunday, after armed men arrived on motorbikes and entered the building towards the end of a service.

The attackers shot their guns into the air before killing their victims.

At least two people are missing, according to a security source who spoke to the AFP news agency.

The priest’s two sons were killed alongside him in the attack, according to BBC Africa.

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The church they died in is in the parish of Silgadji and the suspects are believed to have fled north to the Mali border.

Burkina Faso has been plagued by terrorist attacks in recent years.

On 26 April six people, including five teachers, were killed in Maïtaougou, in the country’s eastern region.

And in 2018 at least 35 people were killed in a series of shootings, believed to have been carried out by jihadist extremists.

Authorities in the West African country declared a state of emergency across several northern provinces in December 2018, in response to the rise in violence.

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