The UN Refugee Agency has said that about 14,000 people in Burkina Faso have fled their homes in the past 17 days, bringing the total of internally displaced to 780,000, a United Nations spokesman said Friday.

"Most of them are searching for safety in the country, but recent violence has also forced more than 2,000 people to flee to Mali," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the daily news briefing.

"The UN Refugee Agency said it is alarmed by the dramatic rise of forced displacement in the Sahel and reiterated its call for the protection of civilian populations and those fleeing violence," said the spokesman.

"They have scaled up their response and are providing protection and emergency supplies to those forced to flee, as well as communities hosting them," he said.

There have been worrying incidents of violence this month around Dori, a town in northeastern Burkina Faso, and also in the northeast of the country. Camps and villages have been reportedly targeted. The people there can no longer access markets or schools and there have been few opportunities for activities that support their families.