Five people including a priest and two of his sons are killed in Burkina Faso church attack

Five people including a priest have died in an apparent jihadist attack on a church in Burkina Faso.

Gunmen on motorbikes entered the church in the town of Silgadji near Djibo, the capital of Soum province, and opened fire near the end of Sunday's service.

The priest, named as Pierre Ouedraogo, and two of his sons are said to have been killed in the attack.

The attackers then fled to the north towards the country's border with Mali, according to BBC Africa. 

'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.  

A member of the church said: 'The attack happened around 1pm, just as the faithful were leaving the church at the end of the service.

'The attackers were on motorbikes. They fired in the air before aiming at the members of the congregation.'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit the country later this week.

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

Burkina Faso has seen a surge in killings blamed on jihadists.

The attacks started in the north of the country before targeting the capital Ouagadougou and other regions, notably the east of the country.

Former colonial ruler France has deployed some 4,500 troops in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad in a mission codenamed Barkhane to help local forces try to flush out jihadist groups.

In February, a Spanish priest, Father Cesar Fernandez, was killed in a raid attributed to jihadists in Nohao in the centre of the country.