OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Jihadists attacked a town in northern Burkina Faso and killed 35 civilians, most of them women, and ensuing clashes with security forces left 80 jihadists dead, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore announced late Tuesday.

The violence, which erupted in the town of Arbinda in Sahel region near the country's border with Mali, also killed seven members of the security forces who responded.

Jihadist attacks are frequent in the area but the provisional toll released Tuesday evening was unprecedented.

“The heroic action of our soldiers has made it possible to neutralize 80 terrorists," the president said. “This barbaric attack resulted in the death of 35 civilians, most of them women.”