Human Rights Watch in a report published on Thursday said that the military forces in Burkina Faso killed 223 civilians, including babies and many children, in attacks on two villages accused of cooperating with militants.
The mass killings took place on February 25 in the country’s northern villages of Nondin and Soro, and some 56 children were among the dead, according to the report. The human rights body called on the United Nations and the African Union to provide investigators and to support local efforts to bring those responsible to justice.
The once-peaceful West African nation has been ravaged by violence that has pitted jihadis linked to Al-Qaida and the Islamic State group against state-backed forces. Both sides have targeted civilians, displacing more than 2 million people, of which over half are children.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
