Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an attack on a Protestant church in a village in northern Burkina Faso, officials said Monday. In a separate incident, five Burkinabe soldiers in the troubled region were killed by a roadside bomb, security sources said.

A group of "armed terrorists" raided the village of Pansi, in Yagha province "and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents", the governor, Colonel Salfo Kabore, said in a statement sent to AFP. The assault occurred on Sunday during a weekly service at a Protestant church, security officials said.

"The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor... 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped," Kabore said. A resident of the nearby town of Sebba said Pansi villagers had fled there for safety.

Christians and churches in northern provinces have become frequent targets by armed Islamists. On February 10, suspected jihadists in Sebba seized seven people at the home of a pastor.