A pregnant woman and five other people died when an ambulance carrying them hit a land mine in northern Burkina Faso, in an area that has come under repeated militant attacks, the government said.

The ambulance was carrying the woman, her husband, a girl and two other women between the towns of Gaskindé and Namissiguia, near Burkina Faso's border with Mali on Tuesday, the government said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for laying the land mine.

Attacks in Burkina Faso by fighters linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State have risen sharply over the last three years, displacing more than a million people.

Last month, Burkina Faso's government for the first time said that it was open to talks with Islamist militants to try to end the insurgency, a position echoed by authorities in neighbouring Mali.