The bodies of 28 people who were shot dead have been found in the northwestern town of Nouna in Burkina Faso, the government said.
Civil society groups blamed the killings on armed civilians who claimed to be members of a government-backed volunteer force fighting jihadists.
The government did not comment on the claims, but said it was investigating.
Burkina Faso has been wracked by a decade-long insurgency that has displaced nearly two million people.
The military seized power in Burkina Faso last January, promising to end attacks, but violence still rages.
The government said the bodies were found on December 30 and 31.
It condemned the “unacceptable violence” and called for calm, pending the outcome of the investigation.
The incident occurred at a time when the government had begun to “mobilize everyone for unity of action in the fight against terrorism”, he added.
The government has formed the Homeland Defense Volunteers (VDP), recruiting civilians into its ranks to fight Islamist militants.
A civil society group, the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities (CISC), said armed civilians, who claimed to be members of the VDP, carried out the killings in retaliation for attacks by suspected militants between December 29 and 30.
There is no independent confirmation of these claims.
Source: BBC
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