The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, HRW) accused in a report released Thursday that the armed forces of Burkina Faso, which have been waging a war against armed jihadist organizations for almost a decade, “summarily executed 223 civilians”. among them at least 56 children, in raids on two villages in the northern part of the Sahel country in February.

The Burkina Faso authorities have so far not reacted to this accusation.

“The Burkina Faso army summarily executed at least 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in two villages on February 25, 2024,” the NGO report said.

“Soldiers killed 44 people, including 20 children, in the village of Nodin, and (another) 179 people, including 36 children, in the neighboring village of Soro”, in Tiu district (north), the text clarifies.

HRW says it spoke to 23 people by phone, including 14 who said they were eyewitnesses, and verified videos and photos shared by survivors.

“These mass killings, among the worst violations by Burkina Faso’s army since 2015, appear to be part of a widespread campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with Islamist armed groups” and “likely constitute crimes against humanity,” Human Rights Watch said. Rights.

The regime of Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a 2022 military coup, has adopted a very aggressive strategy against the jihadist groups, which control much of the territory, at the cost of extremely heavy civilian casualties, according to NGOs and defenders. of human rights.

The massacres in the villages of Nodine and Soro “are only the latest mass killings of civilians by the Burkina Faso army in its operations to suppress the guerrilla war,” said Tirana Hassan, HRW’s executive director, according to the report. .

The fact that time and time again the authorities have shown no intention of taking preventive measures or conducting investigations into atrocities of this nature “shows why international assistance is critical in order to support a credible investigation into potential crimes against humanity,” Penentara added. Australian.

On February 25, Burkina Faso state television reported that the Rapid Intervention Battalion (TTE), a special forces unit, pursued fighters trying to escape after a jihadist attack on an armed forces base and “neutralized most of them,” making no mention of civilian casualties.

In January, Human Rights Watch accused Burkina Faso’s army of killing at least 60 civilians in drone strikes the government presented as operations against jihadists.

Dissidents, journalists and human rights defenders are systematically silenced by the military regime in Burkina Faso, for which such measures are justified because of the bloody war in the Sahel country since 2015.