Volunteer militia groups supporting Burkina Faso’s army have killed dozens of civilians of the ethnic Fulani group, including children, in the troubled country’s west, a local rights group charged on Tuesday.
The military supporters killed nearly 30 civilians last week in Nouna town, a predominately Fulani and Muslim community, according to Daouda Diallo, executive secretary of the civic group, the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities. Burkina Faso’s Fulani people have been increasingly targeted by the military and local defense militias because they are suspected of supporting the West African country’s Islamic extremist rebels that have been inflicting violence on the country for years.
“They (support militia) essentially targeted resourceful or influential people and the able-bodied members of the community, resulting in the loss of many human lives,” said Diallo. The killings in Nouna were revenge attacks by volunteer fighters after jihadis attacked their headquarters, he said.
Extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced nearly 2 million people in Burkina Faso over the past seven years. Lack of confidence in the government’s ability to stem the extremist violence led to two coups in Burkina Faso last year.
Violence against the Fulani people has increased since the country’s new junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, seized power in September, allege rights groups. Between October and January Diallo’s group documented nearly 250 cases of extrajudicial killings compared to 95 in the previous four months, said Diallo.
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