Several injured after French soldiers fire at protesters in Burkina Faso

Four people were injured in the city of Kaya in Burkina Faso on Saturday after French soldiers fired shots at a crowd of protesters.

None of the injuries was life-threatening, police said. The police said they had earlier fired warning shots.

Tensions have been running high in Kaya for several days, with protests against French military convoys heading into neighbouring Niger.

At least 32 people were killed in a terrorist attack on Sunday in the north of the country.

The former French colony with its 21 million inhabitants is located in the Sahel, an area stretching south of the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.

Armed groups are active there, some of which have sworn allegiance to the Daesh or al-Qaeda. Burkina Faso was long spared attacks, but the number there has risen significantly since 2015.

According to the United Nations, more than 1.2 million people are now refugees in their own country. Many militias operate across the borders into Mali and other states.

Attacks on military and police posts have increased in recent weeks, especially near the border with neighbouring Mali. At the end of October, unknown extremists killed almost two dozen people in an attack on a police station in the region.