A US national was killed by Burkina Faso security forces in Ouagadougou on Saturday, an official at the American embassy confirmed without providing details, reported AFP. 

The man was strolling outside the Baba Sy military camp acting “suspiciously”, a high-ranking source in the security forces told AFP.

After he was confronted but refused to comply and tried to escape, soldiers fired warning shots, some of which hit the man. He was immediately taken to a health centre where he died, according to the source.

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The shooting comes with the West African country on edge as it prepares for a general election on Sunday amid the rising jihadist insurgency.

The security crisis has dominated the electoral campaign and an undisclosed number of troops have been deployed for polling day in the landlocked nation, one of the world’s poorest.

No votes in the presidential and parliamentary polls will be cast in one-fifth of the country’s territory, where large swathes remain outside the state’s control and jihadists strike almost daily.

The violence has forced one million people to vacate their homes in the last two years, and at least 1,200 have been killed since 2015.