Seven children and four women were among 14 civilians, killed when a roadside bomb blew up their bus in northwestern Burkina Faso, the government said.
"The provisional toll is 14 dead," a statement said, adding that 19 more people were hurt, three of them seriously in Saturday's blast.
The explosion happened in Sourou province near the Mali border as students returned to school after the Christmas holidays, a security source said.
"The vehicle hit a homemade bomb on the Toeni-Tougan road," the source
told AFP. "The Government strongly condemns this cowardly and barbaric act," the statement said.