At least 60 people were killed by men allegedly in military uniforms in northern Burkina Faso, authorities said.
The killings took place in the area of Barga, in Yatenga province. The injured have been evacuated to hospitals and an investigation into the killings has been opened, said Lamine Traore, Burkina Faso's prosecutor, in a statement Sunday.
“My office was alerted about the seriousness of some of the facts. I therefore gave instructions to the investigation unit to carry out investigations in order to illuminate the said facts and hear all the people who are involved,” he said.
Fighters linked to al-Qaida and Daesh group have been carrying out frequent attacks in Burkina Faso for seven years - as part of their violent insurgency across several countries in the Sahel region.
The violence has killed thousands of people in the country, displaced some two million, and destabilized the once peaceful country. Burkina Faso has seen two military coups last year.
Last week the authorities ordered what they called a 'total' mobilisation of security forces to deal with the insecurity.
The government led by Captain Ibrahim Traore recently announced it was opening other investigations into allegations of human rights abuses by its security forces after a video surfaced that appeared to show alleged extrajudicial killing of seven children in the country’s north.
