‘Burkina Faso killings were extrajudicial’

The bodies of at least 180 men found in northern Burkina Faso suggest they were extrajudicially executed by the army, Human Rights Watch said in a report. The authorities have previously faced accusations of extrajudicial killings in the war against a jihadist insurgency that they have been waging since 2015.

The dead, who were men mostly from the Fulani and Peul ethnic groups — communities targeted by the insurgents for recruitment — were buried by residents of the northern town of Djibo between April and May.

HRW’s Sahel director Corinne Dufka called for an urgent investigation into the deaths.