The Burkina Faso army has condemned disturbing videos that have been spreading on social media showing people claiming they are soldiers and army helpers mutilating dead bodies.
The videos are coming out during a difficult jihadist insurgency in the Sahel, causing a lot of anger and leading to calls for serious investigations.
In a statement on Wednesday, Burkina Faso’s armed forces condemned the gruesome scene shown in the videos, saying they go against their military values.
This alarming trend follows a video last week of a man in a Malian military uniform mutilating a corpse with a machete.
The Malian army called it a “rare atrocity” and said it doesn’t reflect their military values.
Burkina Faso and Mali, both under military rule since 2020 and 2022, have been dealing with a jihadist insurgency that has affected the Sahel region for over a decade.
The conflict in Mali has caused thousands of deaths and millions of people displaced.
Rights groups and the United Nations have often accused Malian and Burkinabe troops of serious abuses against civilians suspected of helping jihadists, but both armies have denied these claims.
