Burkina Faso accused of mass killing by Human Rights Watch

The Burkina Faso government and military have been accused by Human Rights Watch of the mass killing of at least 100 civilians in March near the town of Solenzo in the Boucle du Mouhoun region.  

According to the Associated Press, the attack was primarily targeted at the ethnic Fulani population, a group widespread across the region, due to suspected ties to Islamic insurgents. 

The Burkina Faso military reportedly used a mix of special forces and pro-government militias loyal to the country’s regime to carry out the atrocities. Both video evidence and eyewitness testimonies confirm the military’s involvement.

One man, a herder from Solenzo, described how government forces “shot at us like animals,” adding that many people, including women and children, were killed because ”they could not run.” 

Initially, when the first reports of the mass killings reached the public domain, there was widespread speculation about whether government forces were directly involved. The range of graphic accounts and detailed videos made it difficult for investigators to establish a clear, definitive timeline of events. At the same time, the Burkina Faso government strongly denied involvement. 

In a statement, the government dismissed the accusations, calling them ”fake information aimed at undermining social cohesion.”

However, Ilaria Allegrozzi, a senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated: “Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso’s military was responsible for the mass killings.” 

The government’s move to target groups like the Fulani– suspected of sympathizing with Islamic insurgents– comes at a time when terrorism is on the rise throughout the region.

As previously reported by Maghrebi, Sahel-based terrorist groups like JNIM and IS-Sahel have been expanding rapidly due to weak resistance from governments in the region, including Burkina Faso’s.

This has led to groups  spreading across the region  into neighbouring non-Sahel countries like Togo and Benin, which, as a result, have experienced some of the highest levels of terrorist attacks in their receptive countries’ histories.

Associated Press/ Maghrebi