Around 100 killed during massacre in Burkina Faso

Abuja [Nigeria]: A massacre in the West African country of Burkina Faso has seen roughly 100 civilians killed, the European Union’s diplomatic service said on Monday.

“Nearly a hundred civilians, including women and children, are reported to have been killed in a massacre in the village of Zaongo, in the north-central region of Burkina Faso,” the EU External Action (EEAS) said in a statement, CNN reported.

The village of Zaongo lies roughly 60 kilometres from the city of Boulsa, so far there has been no evidence of who committed the atrocities.

In a news release prosecutor Simon Gnanou said “At the current stage of our findings and the testimonies collected, the perpetrators of these atrocities remain unknown for the moment.”

Burkina Faso is currently under military rule after a junta staged a successful coup d’etat in July 2022. Since the military takeover, the junta has prioritized security but has struggled to rein in islamist groups whose attacks have resulted in multiple civilian casualties this year.

Burkina Faso has been the epicenter of violence that has spread across the vast Sahel region by Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

According to Amnesty International, large swathes of the impoverished nation are “under siege by armed groups” who “commit war crimes and human rights abuses.”

The attack was condemned by the US government which along with the EU called on the transitional authorities to “shed light on the circumstances” behind the massacre to “determine who is responsible,” CNN reports.

There were at least 44 fatalities in separate villages in April of this year, which the junta authorities blamed on Islamist terrorists.

Later in April, 136 further people were killed, including in a similar onslaught on a village in the same region by armed men in military uniform. Authorities condemned the attack and opened an investigation, CNN reports.

In its statement condemning the latest attack, the EU reaffirmed “its full solidarity with the people of Burkina Faso”, describing them as “first victims of the continuing deterioration of the security situation in the country,” CNN reports.