soldiers film videos bragging about army violence against civilians

Burkina Faso at least 22 dead after an attack in

New particularly violent videos and photos document several massacres of civilians (men, women, children) committed in Burkina Faso in recent months. Massacres perpetrated by soldiers of the Burkinabè army, according to testimonies and a report from the NGO Human Rights Watch. The videos, obtained by France 24 journalist Wassim Nasr, were filmed by military soldiers who committed the abuses or even by jihadists who arrived on the scene subsequently.

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Extremely violent, one of the videos – obtained by our France 24 colleague Wassim Nasr – shows human bodies burning. It was filmed at the beginning of May between the towns of Foutouri and Sebba, in eastern Burkina Faso.

The men behind the camera are Burkinabè soldiers, who film their own abuses. We hear them ironic about the victims: they call them “ soup ” Who ” are burning “, and that ” are already ripe »

Several images, taken by soldiers or jihadists, document a series of massacres committed in this region between May 3 and 9. Witnesses reported around a hundred people killed by uniformed men escorting a supply convoy.

Other videos collected by Wassim Nasr shed new light on an older massacre. This was allegedly committed on February 25 in the villages of Soro and Nodin in the northwest of the country. We can see piles of human bodies resting on the ground. A Human Rights Watch report, published in April, attributes this massacre to the Burkinabè army. The NGO recorded 223 deaths, including women and children.

Burkina Faso is plunged into a cycle of violence and reprisals. On the day of this killing, a church was also targeted by an attack in the Dori region, this time by jihadists from the Islamic State organization, leaving around fifteen dead.

Alioune Tine, independent United Nations expert on human rights, calls on the social network mass crimes committed recurrently in Burkina Faso “.

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