HRW accuses Burkina Faso’s army of executing more than 200 civilians

Burkina Faso’s military forces “summarily executed” 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in two villages in February, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a new report.

The mass killings took place on February 25 in the northern villages of Nondin and Soro, Al Jazeera said, quoting the HRW’s report published on Thursday.

The rights group said that soldiers killed at least 44 people, including 20 children, in Nondin, and 179 people, including 36 children, in nearby Soro.

According to international organizations, civilians in Burkina Faso have been caught in the middle of and displaced by the fighting between armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), and security forces. Conflicts across the African country have killed almost 20,000 people and displaced more than two million, reports confirmed.