Suspected militants have killed 16 civilians, including four army auxiliaries, in two separate attacks in Burkina Faso, local and security sources said.

Twelve people died and two were injured in Koulponsgo, in central-eastern Burkina on Tuesday, a resident in the region said.

A security source also confirmed the attack and toll.

On the same day, an "attack by terrorist groups left four dead in Sirasso" in the west of the troubled West African country, the security source said on Thursday, adding they were all VDP civilian volunteers for the army.

Around a dozen "terrorists" were also killed in counter-operations by the army in response to the two attacks, the security source said.

The Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland is a civilian volunteer force that supports the military in the fight against the militants.

Worst internal crises

Burkina Faso is fighting an insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

The latest violence follows an attack last week on a camp for internally displaced people in the north of the country which left eight people dead.

More than 17,000 civilians and troops have died in attacks in Burkina Faso, according to a count by an NGO monitor called the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

Over two million people have also been displaced within the country, making it one of the worst internal displacement crises in Africa.