Burkina Faso: Army executed 223 civilians including 56 children in single-day massacre

Burkina Faso’s military allegedly carried out a grave human rights violation by summarily executing 223 civilians including at least 56 children in a single day in late February_, the Guardian_ quoted an investigation into one of the worst abuses by the country’s armed forces in recent years.

These mass killings have been linked to a broader military campaign to address jihadist violence and took place shortly after the arrival of Russian troops in Burkina Faso to bolster security efforts.

“The Burkinabè army has repeatedly committed mass atrocities against civilians in the name of fighting terrorism, with almost no one held to account,” Tirana Hassan, executive director of HRW was quoted by The Guardian as saying. “Victims, survivors and their families are entitled to see those responsible for grave abuses brought to justice.”

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Villagers in Soro shared the grief and horror they went through during the mass shooting by soldiers who had been rounded up or tried to hide or escape.

A 48-year-old farmer told HRW that soldiers separated men and women in groups. “I was in the garden with other people when they [soldiers] called us. As we started moving forward, they opened fire on us indiscriminately. I ran behind a tree, and this saved my life,” he was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation indicates that the massacre may constitute crimes against humanity. It has called on Burkinabè authorities to initiate an urgent UN-backed inquiry into the matter.

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The Guardian reported that the rights body’s researchers based on witness testimonies and the analysis of videos and photographs revealed that soldiers allegedly killed 179 individuals, including 36 children, in Soro village, and 44 people including 20 children, in the nearby Nondin village both located in the northern Yatenga province.

These revelations come amid discussions among UN officials and African leaders in Nigeria aimed at addressing the escalating terrorism threat on the continent. Notably, officials from Burkina Faso were absent from the conference.

Observers have pointed out that these killings occurred at a time when the effectiveness of US counter-terrorism efforts in the region was diminishing, leading the country to increasingly rely on Russia for its security strategy.

In March this year, around 170 people were “executed” in attacks on three villages in northern Burkina Faso a week ago. The attacks by unknown assailants were carried out on the villages of Komsilga, Nodin and Soro in the Yatenga province, the statement dated March 1 said, adding that an investigation had been launched.

The West African Sahel nation has been struggling to contain violent Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighbouring Mali over the past decade, killing thousands and displacing more than two million.

Last year, at least 70 civilians have been killed, mainly elderly people and children, in an attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso earlier this month, a prosecutor said in a statement on Monday.

Unidentified assailants attacked the village of Zaongo in Burkina Faso’s northern Centre-North region on Nov. 5, killing residents and setting property on fire.

Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries battling a bloody jihadist insurgency that took root in neighbouring Mali in 2012.

Violence has spread across the Sahel region and more recently to coastal countries as militants seize territory despite military operations to push them back. Thousands have been killed and more than six million have fled their homes.