At least 60 civilians were killed on Friday in northern Burkina Faso by people wearing the uniforms of the Burkinabe armed forces, according to local prosecutor Lamine Kabore on Sunday.

The killings took place in the town of Ouahigouya, which is located in the Yatenga Province of northern Burkina Faso. The victims were reportedly unarmed civilians who were attending a funeral.

The Burkinabe government has condemned the killings and has vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. However, the killings have raised questions about the security situation in Burkina Faso and the ability of the government to protect its citizens.

Kabore said an investigation had been launched after the attack on the village of Karma in Yatenga province in the borderlands near Mali, an area overrun by terrorist groups linked to al-Qaida and Daesh that have carried out repeated attacks for years.

The statement gave no further details on the attack.

Since 2022, attacks by armed groups on civilians have surged while state security forces and volunteer defense troops have conducted a number of abusive counterterrorism operations, Human Rights Watch said in March.

Unidentified assailants killed 40 people and wounded 33 others in an attack on the army and volunteer forces in the same region of northern Burkina Faso near Ouahigouya on April 15, according to the government.

Unrest in the region began in Mali in 2012, when terrorists hijacked a Tuareg separatist uprising. The violence has since spread into Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands and displacing over 2.5 million people.