Burkina Faso votes in presidential election under shadow of jihadist violence

Polls opened in Burkina Faso on Sunday for a presidential election dominated by jihadist violence, which has cost over 2,000 lives this year and will prevent voting in hundreds of villages.

President Roch Kaboré is seeking a second five-year term, campaigning on achievements including free healthcare for children under the age of five, and paving some of the red dirt roads that snake across the arid West African country.

But a surge in attacks by groups with links to the militant groups al Qaeda and Islamic State has eclipsed everything else. Three weeks after his inauguration, al Qaeda’s regional branch attacked a hotel and a cafe in Burkina Faso's capital, killing 32 people; an ambush on mine workers in the east last year killed 39.

"I like Kaboré , but he hasn't managed the security situation. The north has been forgotten, there is no government authority there," said Tiadiane Bonkoungou, who sells blankets and drapes at a market stall in Ouagadougou.

Kaboré faces stiff opposition from former finance minister Zephirin Diabré, the runner-up in 2015, and Eddie Komboigo, who runs the party of Blaise Campaoré, the president of 27 years who was overthrown in 2014. Analysts expect a tight race that could go to a second round if no candidate wins more than 50 percent.

Provisional results of the first round are expected by midweek.

The electoral commission says polling stations will remain shut across much of the north and east for fear of violence.

Around 6.5 million people will vote in Sunday's election, but not in nearly 1,500 of the country's 8,000 villages, nor in 22 of more than 300 communes, because of the security risks.

At least 400,000 people - nearly 7 percent of the electorate - will be unable to cast their votes, official data show.