HRW Report Accuses Burkina Faso's Forces of Killings, Torture

A slew of arbitrary executions, forced disappearances, and torture by Burkina Faso's military has terrorised communities in the country's northeast in 2023, according to a Human Rights Watch report. The military is accused of committing these atrocities during counterinsurgency operations against armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State that entered the nation through Mali in 2016.

Since 2021, the violent war has claimed approximately 7,900 lives and displaced over 2 million people from their homes. The militia, which could control up to 40% of the country's territory, were driven from their former strongholds when Burkina Faso's transitional military authority declared a "general mobilisation" in April. The strategy aims to establish a "legal framework for all actions" used to combat rebels.

This article originally appeared on BBC News.

Image via Reuters.