Gunmen killed four worshippers and a pastor in the first jihadist attack on a church in Burkina Faso.

Unidentified armed individuals have attacked the Protestant church in Silgadji, killing four members of the congregation and the main pastor

At least two other people are missing,” the source added.

The attack happened around 1:00 pm, just as the faithful were leaving the church at the end of the service,” a member of the church who did not want to be identified told AFP.

Burkina Faso has suffered from increasingly frequent and deadly attacks attributed to a number of jihadist groups, including the Ansarul Islam group, the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

The raids began in 2015 in the north before targetting the capital Ouagadougou and other regions, notably in the the east.

A total of 350 people have been killed since 2015 — mainly in hit-and-run raids — according to an AFP tally.

The jihadist groups regularly target both Muslim and Christian clerics, mainly in the north.