Twenty-eight bodies were discovered on New Year’s Eve in Nouna, northwestern Burkina Faso, the government said Monday night, a civil society organization denouncing “blackmailing” of army aides.
“The government has been informed of a tragedy that occurred on the night of December 30-31 in Nouna, the capital of the province of Kossi,” government spokesman Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo said in a statement. The first information “reports 28 deaths”.
The Collective Against Impunity and the Stigmatization of Communities (CISC) condemned the “blackmailing” of Homeland Defense Volunteers (VDP, Army Auxiliaries).
The government statement added that an investigation “was launched immediately […] to clarify the circumstances of the drama and locate all responsibilities”. “Pending the outcome of the investigations” he called “on the entire population to calm down” and reiterated “that all measures have been taken to shed light on this unacceptable violence” .
“This tragedy comes at a time when Burkina Faso has launched an operation to mobilize all people for common action in the fight against terrorism,” the spokesman noted.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has faced increasing attacks from jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. They have left thousands dead and at least two million displaced, and are partly behind two military coups in 2022.
The government claimed it “remains fundamentally opposed to all forms of abuse or violation of human rights, for any reason whatsoever”.
A statement from Nouna High Court prosecutor Armel Sama said: “Most of the victims, all male, were shot.”
Prior to the publication of these official press releases, the CISC, a human rights organization, had just denounced “extortion against civilians”.
“Armed civilians posing as ‘VDPs’ freely engage in organized looting and targeting of civilian populations against a background of racial profiling and stigma.”
Saturday, “after an alleged terrorist attack on the VDP headquarters in Nouna […] armed dozos (traditional hunters), identified by the victims as VDPs, carried out murderous actions in retaliation”.
“The death toll stands at 21 dead, including children, but it continues to rise as information reaches us from the field,” said CISC Secretary-General Daouda Diallo.