Burkina Faso Condemns 'Macabre Acts' in Viral Social Media Videos

Burkina Faso's army has denounced disturbing social media videos showing alleged soldiers mutilating corpses. The videos follow a similar incident in Mali. Both countries' militaries, struggling against a long-standing jihadist insurgency, have pledged to investigate the footage and uphold military values against such atrocities.

Burkina Faso's military has strongly denounced videos circulating on social media that depict individuals claiming to be soldiers or army auxiliaries mutilating dead bodies. The shocking trend began last week with a video showing a man in Malian military attire using a machete to cut open a corpse's stomach. Mali's army labeled the incident as a 'rare atrocity' inconsistent with its values.

This week, similar gruesome videos emerged from Burkina Faso, showing men displaying severed body parts and burning them in open flames, as per comments and media reports. These videos have not been independently verified by Reuters. In a statement released Wednesday, Burkina Faso's armed forces expressed their condemnation of the 'macabre acts,' calling them the opposite of military values and promising a thorough investigation to identify those involved.

The armies of both Mali and Burkina Faso, who have been combating a jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region for over a decade, are facing accusations of serious human rights abuses against civilians suspected of aiding jihadists. Rights groups and the United Nations have issued such allegations repeatedly, though both militaries deny wrongdoing.

Additionally, both Burkina Faso and Mali have experienced political upheaval, with military coups occurring in response to the governments' failures to curb the insurgency and protect civilians. Despite promises from the ruling juntas to end the violence, the insurgency continues to result in significant loss of life and massive displacement.

(With inputs from agencies.)