The images showed "unbearable images of rare cruelty" and allegedly show members of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) and the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP) mutilating a human body, according to the General Staff of the military, who have ruled the Sahelian country since 2022.

On Thursday it said it "strongly condemns these macabre acts, which are contrary to military and moral values and to the rules of engagement for combatants in the fight against terrorism".

It added that the army "distances itself from these inhumane practices", emphasizing that they could tarnish the reputation of Burkinabe forces at the forefront of reclaiming national territory.

A jihadist insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

The Burkinabe army has always denied repeated allegations of extrajudicial executions, sometimes attributing these acts to armed groups using military equipment.

Efforts are under way to identify the origin and authors of the videos, the army said, as the footage does not specify the location, date, or identities of the individuals involved, although some are seen wearing military uniforms.

It comes after the General Staff of the Malian Armed Forces on July 16 also distanced itself from a "video of a rare atrocity akin to cannibalism" showing a person in military uniform, assuring that steps were being taken to "reveal the truth."

Since 2015, deadly violence in Burkina Faso, attributed to armed movements linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, has resulted in approximately 20,000 deaths and more than two million people being internally displaced.