Burkina Faso's ruling junta is creating two military zones in the north and east -- reputed havens for jihadists -- where "human presence is forbidden", the army said late on Monday.

The decision was taken at a defence council convened on Monday by junta leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba to discuss the country's "worrying security situation".

"The council decided to create two zones of military interest in the East and (northern) Sahel regions," the head of domestic operations, Lieutenant Colonel Yves Didier Bamouni, said.

Bamouni said the aim was to make it easier to combat "the terrorist hydra".

The areas are in the northern Soum province bordering Mali, and the protected natural reserves between Pama and the "W" National Park in the east.

All human activity and human presence will be banned in the zones. Anyone who ventures into them risks exposing themselves "to the military operations that will be conducted there shortly", Bamouni said.

The decision comes 10 days after 86 civilians were massacred in an attack blamed on jihadists on the northern border village of Seytenga.

It was the second worst attack since 2015, when violence attributed to fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group began.

Thousands have since died and nearly two million people have fled their homes.

The new government led by Damiba, who overthrew elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore in January, vowed to restore security, blaming Kabore of not doing enough to repel armed jihadists groups.

Burkina junta leader holds talks with overthrown president
Ouagadougou (AFP) June 21, 2022 - The head of Burkina Faso's ruling junta on Tuesday met the president he overthrew in a coup this year, for talks to try to "defuse" the political situation, the presidency said.

Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the elected president until his ousting in January, was accompanied by another former president Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo during the meeting at the presidential palace.

The three men discussed "security matters, the management of the transition and other issues of national interest", the presidency said in a statement.

It is the "start of a series of actions with a view to defusing the political situation", it added.

The meeting demonstrated the new leader's "the desire for reconciliation" and for "a united, determined and supportive Burkina in the fight against the terrorist hydra", the statement said.

Like Mali and neighbouring Niger, Burkina is caught in a spiral of violence blamed largely on jihadists linked to the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda.

The new regime led by junta leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba has vowed to restore security, blaming Kabore for not having done enough to repel armed jihadist groups.

It says it needs three years to rebuild the country in the face of the jihadist insurgency before it can organise democratic elections.

The bloodshed has continued, however.

Earlier this month, more than 80 civilians were killed in the northern commune of Seytenga in the country's second deadliest attack ever.

Kabore was moved from house arrest to his own home in the capital Ouagadougou in early April following the January coup.

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