Burkina Faso probes bullet-ridden bodies

OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso’s defence ministry says it has launched an investigation following the discovery of seven bullet-ridden corpses in the outskirts of a town in the east where the army had carried out an operation.

Security forces in Burkina Faso and neighbouring Sahel nations are on the offensive against jihadi militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, who have carried out attacks and stoked inter-communal conflicts.

Rights groups have warned abuses are rampant in the region as national armies track suspected militants.

“Following a military operation carried out on June 29 in the locality of Boumoana, near Tanwalbougou, seven bodies of individuals who were shot dead were reportedly discovered by the residents in the outskirts of the town,” the ministry said.

In May, a prosecutor launched an investigation after 12 people died during the same night in detention cells, hours after they were arrested for suspected terrorism-related offences in the same area.

Concerns over several reports of right abuses prompted European Union and Sahel states leaders to warn during a security summit on Tuesday that any of their troops found guilty of human rights abuses against civilians would be held accountable and punished severely.