Burkina Faso’s army has denounced a series of videos recently shared on social media that depict individuals presenting themselves as soldiers and army auxiliaries mutilating corpses.
This disturbing trend began last week with a video showing a man in a Malian military uniform dismembering a dead body with a machete. Mali’s army has described this act as a “rare atrocity” that does not reflect its military values.
Similar videos have surfaced this week from Burkina Faso, showing men displaying severed body parts and burning them in an open fire. According to media reports and online comments, these gruesome acts have sparked outrage.
“In recent days, unbearable images of rare cruelty have been posted on social networks,” the Burkina Faso armed forces stated on Wednesday. The military condemned these “macabre acts” as contrary to their values and, like Mali’s army, pledged to verify the videos and identify those involved.
Both Mali and Burkina Faso are engaged in a battle against a jihadist insurgency that has plagued the Sahel region for over a decade. Despite accusations from rights groups and the United Nations of serious abuses against civilians by Malian and Burkinabe troops, both armies have denied any wrongdoing.
Since 2020, Burkina Faso and Mali have been under military rule. The failure of previous governments to protect civilians from the insurgency led to multiple coups in both countries and neighboring Niger. However, the current juntas have yet to fulfill their promises to end the violence that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions.
