2024-10-29 05:46:00
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso’s government needlessly put civilians at risk during a rebel attack this year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday.
In August, at least 100 villagers were killed by militants from an al-Qaeda-linked rebel group in the center of the country, one of the deadliest attacks this year in the conflict-torn West African country.
Residents of Barsalogo commune, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital Ouagadougou, were forced to help security forces dig trenches to protect security outposts and the town as Jama militants invaded the town. area and fired shots at them.
JNIM, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack, said in response to the report that all residents attacked were members of Burkina Faso-affiliated militias.
Human Rights Watch said that after analyzing videos and collecting testimonies, it was confirmed that at least 133 people were killed, including dozens of minors, and at least 200 others were injured.
Hilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher for the Sahel at Human Rights Watch, noted in the report that “the massacre in Barsalogo is the latest example of atrocities committed by Islamic armed groups against civilians, and that the government has inflicted untold consequences on civilians.” Necessary threats.
About half of the country has fallen out of government control after an increase in rebel attacks around the capital. Militants linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State extremist group have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
The violence prompted two coups in 2022. at this point.
Allegrozzi told The Associated Press that the government’s reliance on armed civilian auxiliaries, known as the Volunteers for Home Defense (VDP), to fight the insurgents puts civilians at risk as many become targets of jihadists, a group known as jihadists. The militants accuse them of being supporters or even members of the insurgency.
Burkina Faso’s army forced male residents to dig a new trench near their village without paying them, but many refused for fear of being attacked, the report quoted witnesses as saying. Soldiers then threatened and beat them and forced them to work.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said in a response to Human Rights Watch that Burkina Faso’s law prohibits forced labor and that “testimonies that the army forced people to dig trenches have not been confirmed.”
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