The killing came as a result of a fresh attack on a Catholic church in Toulfe, northern Burkina Faso.

"The attack, which took place around 09:00 (local and GMT), killed at least three and injured several people," the AFP reported.

The latest attack comes after media reported that six people, including a priest, were killed on 12 May in an assault on a Catholic church in Dablo, northern Burkina Faso.

The attacks comes as the authorities of Burkina Faso have launched a massive anti-terrorist operation in the eastern and central-eastern regions of the country, Sputnik news reports. </s> May 12 (UPI) -- Attackers killed six people attend mass at a Catholic church in Burkina Faso on Sunday morning, officials said.

Witnesses said the priest and five churchgoers were killed and several others were injured in the attack on the Catholic Church of Dablo in the landlocked West African country, VOA Africa reported.

"They were about 40 on motorcycles," a witness said. "They made everyone lie down, executed five before torching the church."

The attackers stormed the mass on Sunday morning and then proceeded to set fire to the church and surrounding shops.

Burkina Faso has experienced religious terrorist attacks since April 2015 and last month six people, including a pastor, were killed by assailants at a Protestant church in the community of Sigadji.

The population of the country is 61.5 percent Muslim, 23.3 percent Roman Catholic and 6.5 percent Protestant, according to the 2010 census. </s> 3 dead in new attack on Burkina Faso church

OUAGADOUGOU; Three people were killed Sunday at a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso in the latest in a series of attacks on Christian targets in the region, a security source said.

“Heavily armed individuals attacked the church... as the faithful were celebrating Sunday mass” in the town of Toulfe, the source said, adding that three people were killed. Last week gunmen killed four Catholics in a religious procession, the day after a priest and five parishioners were murdered at mass. Also last week, French special forces freed four foreign hostages in the former French colony during an overnight raid that cost the lives of two soldiers.

Burkina Faso’s population is around two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian. The semi-desert country has suffered from increasingly frequent and deadly attacks attributed to a number of jihadist groups. </s> Unidentified gunmen killed one pastor and five congregants in an attack on a Protestant church in northern Burkina Faso on Sunday, government spokesman Remy Fulgance Dandjinou said on Monday.

Burkina Faso has been beset by rising Islamist violence this year, but the attack was the first of its kind on a church in the religiously tolerant West African country, Dandjinou told Reuters. </s> Four people were killed in an attack on a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso, the latest in a string of assaults on Christian places of worship in the region.

"The Christian community of Toulfe was the target of a terrorist attack gathered for Sunday prayers," the bishop of Ouahigouya, Justin Kientega, said in a statement on Sunday. "The attack left four of the faithful dead."

A security source told AFP news agency "heavily armed individuals attacked the church … as the faithful were celebrating Sunday mass" in the town of Toulfe, 240km northwest of the capital Ouagadougou.

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"[The attack] caused panic in the village and many residents sought cover in their homes or in the bush," a local resident said.

Last week, gunmen killed four Catholics in a religious procession, days after a priest and five others were murdered at mass.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks that threaten to upend traditionally peaceful relations between majority Muslims and Christians who make up one-quarter of the country.

The government has blamed unnamed armed groups operating in the country and Africa's surrounding Sahel region.

Raids began in 2015 in the north before singling out Ouagadougou and other regions, notably in the east.

Nearly 400 people have been killed since 2015 - mainly in hit-and-run raids, according to an AFP tally.

Armed groups target Christian clergy as well as Muslim scholar they do not consider sufficiently conservative in a country where traditionally both religions have co-existed peaceably.

France has deployed 4,500 troops in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad in a mission code named Barkhane to help local forces flush out fighters.

French special forces this month freed four foreign hostages in the former French colony during an overnight raid that killed two soldiers. </s> OUAGADOUGOU: Three people were killed Sunday at a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso in the latest in a series of attacks on Christian targets in the region, a security source said.

"Heavily armed individuals attacked the church... as the faithful were celebrating Sunday mass" in the town of Toulfe, the source said, adding that three people were killed. Last week gunmen killed four Catholics in a religious procession, the day after a priest and five parishioners were murdered at mass.

Also last week, French special forces freed four foreign hostages in the former French colony during an overnight raid that cost the lives of two soldiers. Burkina Faso's population is around two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian. The raids began in 2015 in the north before targeting the capital Ouagadougou and other regions, notably in the east. </s> Five people, including a pastor died in an attack on a church in Burkina Faso, security and local sources said Monday in a country which has seen a surge in killings blamed on jihadists.

Sunday’s assault in the small northern town of Silgadji was the first on a church in the impoverished west African nation.

“Unidentified armed individuals have attacked the Protestant church in Silgadji killing four members of the congregation and the pastor. At least two other people are missing,” a security source told AFP. </s> OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO (AFP) – Gunmen killed a priest and five church-goers during mass on Sunday (May 12) in an attack on a Catholic church in Dablo, northern Burkina Faso, security sources and local official said.

“Towards 9am, during mass, armed individuals burst into the Catholic church,” the mayor of Dablo, Mr Ousmane Zongo, told AFP.

“They started firing as the congregation tried to flee.”

The gunmen managed to trap some of the worshippers, he added.

“They killed five of them. The priest, who was celebrating mass, was also killed, bringing the number of dead to six.”

The attackers set fire to the church, several shops and a small cafe before heading to the local health centre, which they looted and burnt the chief nurse’s vehicle, said Mr Zongo.

Sunday’s attack was the latest of a series carried out against Christian churches in Burkina Faso.

Last Sunday, gunmen killed five people in an attack on a Protestant church in the small northern town of Silgadji. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Police on patrol in northern Burkina Faso in 2018

Gunmen have opened fire on a church in northern Burkina Faso, killing at least six people, officials say.

The attackers reportedly arrived on seven motorbikes at the end of Sunday's service and killed the pastor, two of his sons and three other worshippers.

It is the second reported church attack this month and since jihadist violence erupted in the country in 2016.

Fighters affiliated to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as the local Ansarul Islam have been active.

Sunday's attack on the Protestant church happened in the small town of Silgadji near Djibo, the capital of Soum province, at around 12:00 local time (12:00 GMT).

The number of attackers involved or their possible affiliations is not clear.

A Catholic Church was also attacked in a nearby village on 5 April, killing four people, the bishop of Dori in northern Burkina Faso told Vatican news agency Fides.

Islamist groups have been blamed for a number of attacks in the West African nation in recent years, BBC Afrique's Simon Gongo reports.

On Friday, five teachers were killed in the east of the country in another incident attributed to jihadists, our correspondent adds.

Meanwhile, the fate of a Catholic priest kidnapped a month ago remains unclear.

Correction 1 May 2019: This story has been amended to include a reported attack on a Catholic Church in northern Burkina Faso on 5 April.
Four people are killed in an attack on a Catholic church in northern Burkina Faso, the latest in a string of assaults on Christian places of worship in the region.