Burkina Faso’s military has released a statement acknowledging that their military killed an undisclosed number of civilians during counterterrorism operations.

In a statement, an army spokesman said, “during operations which made it possible to neutralize several dozen terrorists, strikes unfortunately, caused collateral victims within the civilian population.”

The civilian deaths occurred in the villages of Kompienga and Pognoa near the border of Togo. According to local reports, at least 16 people died (primarily women and children) from “shelling.”