Burkina Faso army condemns videos of alleged soldiers mutilating corpses

25/7/2024 18:25

        Burkina Faso's army has condemned videos shared on social media this week showing people presenting themselves as soldiers and army auxiliaries mutilating corpses.
        
        The trend started last week with a video showing a man in Malian military uniform carving up the stomach of a dead body with a machete. Mali's army described it as a "rare atrocity" that did not align with its military values.
        
        Similar videos circulated this week of men in neighbouring Burkina Faso showing off severed dead body parts and burning them on an open fire, according to comments and media reports on the footage. Reuters has not verified any of the videos.
        
        "In recent days, unbearable images of rare cruelty have been posted on social networks," Burkina Faso's armed forces said in a statement on Wednesday.
        It condemned the "macabre acts" as the antithesis of its military values and, like Mali's army, said it would verify the videos and identify the people in them.