Burkina Faso: Islamic radicals kill 250 civilians; human rights group details attacks on Christians

Islamic extremist groups in Burkina Faso killed at least 250 civilians since last April, according to a new report released by a human rights watchdog group that also sheds more details surrounding attacks against churches and worshiping Christians.

On Monday, the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch released a new report highlighting the escalation of extremism in the West African country in which one of the “fastest-growing displacement crises” on the continent is developing as hundreds of thousands fled for their lives last year.

The report is based on interviews with dozens of victims and witnesses of abuses that took place between April and December of last year. The report documents at least 256 civilians murdered in 20 attacks since April 2019.

The al-Qaeda-aligned groups responsible for such attacks, HRW reports, formed in neighboring Mali and have since spread to Burkina Faso. Those groups include Ansaroul Islam and the Islamic State in Greater Sahara.

The report detailed one attack on a Catholic Church that took place on May 12 in the town of Dablo located in the Centre-Nord region. Six people were said to have been killed, including the parish priest, Father Simeon Yampa.

One witness told HRW that the attack began about 15 minutes after the beginning of the 8:30 a.m. Sunday service.

“[W]e heard the motorcycles … then saw them through the windows,” the witness said. “The church was so full that dozens of worshipers had to celebrate outside. One group of jihadists surrounded those outside then another entered the church, creating panic.”

Witnesses said the jihadis blocked the doors so no one could escape.

“Father Yampa fled outside through his dressing chamber,” another witness was quoted as saying. “He ran about three meters, but a jihadist pointed his gun at him saying, ‘You will not escape.’ The priest turned around, raised his hands, clutching the Bible, and sunk to his knees. And the jihadist shot him in the chest, saying, ‘Allahu Akbar.’”

Inside the church, dozens of worshipers were trapped, witnesses said. The churchgoers were ordered to exit the church one-by-one and hand the extremists their identification cards and cellphones.

Another witness said the extremists ordered churchgoers to “abandon Christianity.” After the executions, another witness said the extremists burned robes, church documents, Bibles, musical instruments and two cars.

“They ordered about 20 men to lie down outside, a few meters from the church, all face down in a row,” a witness was quoted as saying. “Then they started killing. I couldn’t look. … I just prayed. ... Then one of them received a phone call and the killing stopped.”

While Burkina Faso was formerly known as a somewhat peaceful country, attacks carried out by Islamic extremist groups have increased since 2016. Attacks on civilians and summary executions increased exponentially in 2019 as violence in the country has become one of the most disturbing global trends of the past year.

Although attacks had been largely concentrated in Burkina Faso’s northern region, violence spread to other regions in 2019 since extremist groups are concentrating recruitment efforts on the nomadic Fulani herding communities, according to HRW.

Meanwhile, victims of attacks have largely been farming communities.

Witnesses told HRW that assailants tried to justify the killings by associating the victims with the government, the West or Christianity. Witnesses said the victims were gunned down in marketplaces, in villages, at churches and mosques, and while on the way to displacement camps.

Despite being blamed for the atrocities, HRW notes that Islamic extremist groups “have rarely claimed responsibility for attacks.”

Muhammadhukabar !!