At least 170 'executed' in Burkina Faso attack - Authorities

At least 170 people were killed in northern Burkina Faso last week, a regional prosecutor said in a statement on Sunday. 

Aly Benjamin Coulibaly said attackers targeted four villages in Yatenga province before 'executing around 170 people' on February 25. 

The statement did not name the attackers. Burkina Faso is battling an Islamist militant insurgency in its north and east. Armed groups - some affiliated to Al Qaeda and ISIS - regularly launch attacks on civilian and military installations. 

The violence has killed almost 20,000 people and displaced more than two million in one of the world’s poorest countries in a region racked by instability.

The prosecutor said that his office had launched an investigation and appealed to the public for information. 

About half of Burkina Faso is outside government control as armed groups have ravaged the country for years.

The Sahel country's military junta has achieved some success against the armed groups but like neighbors Mali and Niger, has not managed to defeat them or reduce the danger they pose to civilian populations.