The military justice of Burkina Faso will conduct an investigation to shed “all the light” on the death of several civilians during “serious altercations” this week with soldiers in Dori, in the north of the country, according to a press release from the prosecution.
“In recent days, serious altercations have opposed civilians and soldiers in a neighborhood in the town of Dori, causing deaths and injuries,” said military prosecutor Judith Pascaline Zoungrana in a statement seen on Saturday by AFP.
“In order to shed light on the circumstances of these facts”, an investigation was opened on April 7 to “give them appropriate legal action”, she added, considering that “these unfortunate and regrettable incidents would have been caused by misunderstandings”.
According to the prefect of Dori, Abrahamane Mande, soldiers fired automatic weapons on Tuesday and Wednesday and struck citizens, “causing loss of life and injuries among the population”.
Residents of Dori contacted by AFP said it was a “punitive expedition” led by soldiers following the assassination of a soldier on Monday, which the Burkinabè human rights movement confirmed. of Man and Peoples (MBDHP).
“The day following this heinous assassination, around 9:00 p.m., even before the exact circumstances of the tragedy were established, soldiers from the Dori garrison carried out reprisals once morest the civilian populations” in the “Petit Paris” district, said Friday the organization, which evokes a balance sheet of seven dead and many injured.
“In view of the seriousness of the facts, the military prosecutor wishes to reassure the populations that all the light will be shed on this affair in order to locate the responsibilities and draw all the legal consequences”, assured the military prosecutor Zoungrana.
During a meeting held Thursday with the main actors in the life of the city, the military officials “apologized” for “regrettable acts” which “will not happen once more”.
The city of Dori is the capital of the Sahel region in northeastern Burkina, an area regularly hit by jihadist attacks.
Burkina Faso, in particular its northern part, has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) organization, which have killed more than 10,000 civilians and soldiers – according to NGOs, and some two million internally displaced persons.
The country has been ruled since September by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a coup, the second in eight months.
