Sixteen European governments have issued a statement to "firmly condemn the deployment of mercenary troops" in the west African state of Mali.

The 16 governments, including France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany, said they were aware of "the involvement of the Russian Federation government in providing material support to the deployment of the Wagner group in Mali and call on Russia to revert to a responsible and constructive behavior in the region."

Military coups have been a regular occurrence in Africa in the decades since independence and there is now concern they are becoming more frequent.

Sudan has this year experienced two such events, one in September which failed and the latest in which Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved the civilian arm of a transitional government and took over.

In Guinea, President Condé was ousted by the army in September and in neighbouring Mali there have been two interventions by the army in less than a year, the most recent one in May.

In Niger, a coup was thwarted in March just days before a presidential inauguration.

So are military interventions occurring more often on the continent?

At least 47 people, including 30 civilians and 14 soldiers, killed by rebels in Arbinda town, according to state media.

Rebel fighters have killed dozens of people in northern Burkina Faso, as violence spirals anew in West Africa’s Sahel region.

In an attack near the northern town of Arbinda on Wednesday, rebels killed at least 47 people, including 30 civilians, 14 soldiers and three pro-government militiamen, state media reported.

State media reported that government troops killed 16 rebels while a security source put the number at 58.

Fighters linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL regularly carry out attacks in Burkina Faso and neighbouring Mali and Niger, killing hundreds of civilians this year alone.

Violence in the Sahel, a semi-arid band beneath the Sahara Desert, has continued to intensify despite the presence of thousands of UN, regional and Western troops and efforts by some governments to negotiate with rebel groups.

Assailants on motorbikes killed 37 people, including 14 children, in Tillaberi region, according to interior ministry.

More than 30 people were killed in a rebel attack in the West African country of Niger, the Ministry of Interior has said.

Armed assailants on motorcycles attacked the village of Darey Dey in the Tillaberi region close to the border with Mali on Monday and killed 37 people, including 14 children, according to the ministry.

The assailants attacked as people were working in the fields, a local official told the AFP news agency.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack but several armed groups linked to al-Qaeda or ISIL (ISIS) are active in the region.

Rated the world’s poorest country by the UN’s Human Development Index, Niger lies in the heart of the arid Sahel region of West Africa, which is battling a nine-year-old rebellion.

The bloodshed began in northern Mali in 2012 and then spread to the centre of the country before hitting neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Tillaberi has borne the brunt of the crisis.