The United States on Wednesday called on Burkina Faso’s government to investigate reports that 180 men were extrajudicially executed by the army, threatening to withdraw security aid if it did not act swiftly. “US security assistance cannot continue without action,” tweeted Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa, calling a Human Rights Watch report into the killings “very troubling”. Over the last three years, security forces in the West African country have been repeatedly accused of extrajudicial killings in their battles against jihadist groups and inter-community conflicts. “Available evidence suggests the involvement of government security forces in extrajudicial mass killings,” it added. Burkina Faso’s government said it would open an inquiry in response to the allegations.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 08, 2020 17:37 UTC