The United Nations human rights office declared that the attack was a war crime after at least forty civilians were killed by rebels with ties to al-Qaida last weekend while they attempted to seize control of a besieged town in Burkina Faso’s severely affected northern area.
A significant number of fighters attempted to seize control of Djibo, which is close to Mali’s border, in one of the biggest battles in recent memory in the West African nation under danger from fighters associated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
Situated 210 kilometres (130 miles) away from Ouagadougou, the capital, the town has been under rebel blockade for almost a year, frequently facing difficulties in delivering basic amenities.
In addition to injuring forty-two people, the militants in the most recent attack on Sunday set fire to three internally displaced camps. Seif Magango, a spokesman for the U.N. Human Rights Office, blamed JNIM, a coalition of armed groups that is affiliated with al-Qaida, for the attack in a statement released on Tuesday.
“It is a war crime to deliberately target civilians or those who are not directly involved in hostilities,” the U.N. department stated, based on information from its personnel on the ground.
The region, which is infamous for its military government’s crackdown on civil society and for frequent internet outages, made it impossible for the Associated Press to get in touch with witnesses or survivors.
government-run The Associated Press was unable to confirm the photographs that RTB Television carried, but they appeared to show enormous crowds of people on motorcycles as they attempted to escape aerial bombardment.
“Attacks on civilians are inexcusable and must stop, and those responsible must be held to account following thorough, impartial and independent investigations by the authorities,” the United Nations statement stated.
Approximately 50% of Burkina Faso’s land area is still ungoverned. The landlocked nation has suffered greatly from Islamist strikes. The stability of the nation, which saw two coups last year, is further threatened by the thousands of deaths and more than two million displaced people caused by fighters.
