AROUND 170 people were executed during deadly attacks on three villages in northern Burkina Faso a week ago, a regional public prosecutor said on Sunday.

Aly Benjamin Coulibaly said the attacks took place in the villages of Komsilga, Nodin and Soroe in Yatenga province on February 25, with at least 170 people executed.

Other villagers were left wounded, the prosecutor for the northern town of Ouahigouya added in a statement.

Mr Coulibaly said his office has ordered an investigation into the incidents and appealed to the public for information.

Local authorities said the attacks on the villages were separate to attacks on a mosque and a church in the north of the country last week, that left dozens dead.

Last week Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said: “This change in the enemy’s tactical approach is because terrorist bases have been destroyed as well as training camps  — actions were carried out to dry up the enemy’s source of financing, as well as its supply corridors.”

The violence in one of the world’s poorest nations has displaced more than two million people in the already unstable Sahel region.

Two military coups hit the country in 2022, with the current leader, Ibrahim Traore, promising to defeat the insurgents and to restore stability to the country.