Authorities say at least 60 people were killed in northern Burkina Faso last week by men wearing national army uniforms.
While the country’s prosecutor did not directly accuse Burkina Faso’s armed forces, he said he had opened an investigation, the latest into whether they had committed human rights violations. Rights groups have repeatedly alleged that the military and related groups have committed assassinations and abuses of the population they are supposed to protect.
The nation, a landlocked country of 20 million people in West Africa, has suffered repeated jihadist attacks since 2015 that have displaced two million people, killed thousands and left more than half of the country beyond the control of pushed the government.
When seizing power in a coup in September, a military junta vowed to restore security. But allegations of extrajudicial killings, which have surfaced regularly over the years, have peaked in areas where residents are suspected of supporting the jihadists.
Burkina Faso’s prosecutor Lamine Kaboré said in a statement on Sunday that he had opened an investigation after receiving a report about the killing of about 60 people in the village of Karma, near the border with Mali.
The killings took place on Thursday, according to a Security Ministry official who discussed the events on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak in public. Mr Kaboré said an unknown number of people were also injured and the men in military uniforms looted some goods.
The statement came just days after authorities in Burkina Faso announced the opening of an investigation into the February murder of seven boys, another case in which members of the country’s armed forces were suspected of responsibility.
In a video seen by DailyExpertNews, men in national army uniforms can be seen walking among the lifeless bodies of seven boys, who have their hands tied behind their backs. In the video, one of the men hits a rock against a boy’s head. “This one doesn’t want to die,” says the man filming the scene on a smartphone.
“Let’s wait for the one who’s going to move, and we’ll kill him,” he says.
According to separate investigations by The Associated Press and the French newspaper Libération, Burkina Faso’s security forces killed the children at a military base near Ouahigouya, a town in the north of the country, about 16 kilometers from Karma, the village where the 60 people were killed.
Burkina Faso’s governments are under pressure to make their armed forces more accountable, especially as last year 90,000 residents volunteered to take up arms and defend the country in civilian groups working alongside the military.
In February, Burkina Faso’s parliament passed a bill to strengthen the role of provost marshals, who are responsible for discipline in the military and enforcing the rights of detainees.
The numerous allegations of abuse against civilians come after Burkina Faso’s military-led government fell out with the country’s traditional partners, such as France, which withdrew hundreds of troops earlier this year. The government has instead sought to strengthen ties with Russia amid persistent rumors that the Kremlin-backed private military company Wagner could enter the country.
Western and West African governments have repeatedly warned of the destabilizing effect Wagner could have in Burkina Faso, but his presence there has yet to be confirmed.
