The authorities in Burkina Faso launched an inquiry on Saturday into the shellfire that reportedly caused dozens of deaths in the region of Djibo.

According to the UN's High Commission on Human Rights, the army is accused of shell firing a number of villages situated around 10km from the army base last Wednesday.

Reports on social networks refer to dozens of dead.

Speaking on Saturday, the government's spokesman announced an inquiry whilst blaming jihadist extremists active in the region.

The degradation of the security situation in the country has prompted two coups this year, the last one at the end of September.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been regularly plagued by increasingly frequent jihadist attacks that have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.

Source: Africa News