In a statement issued on Saturday, Burkina Faso rejected the allegations made in a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, which accused the military of killing at least 223 villagers in two attacks on February 25. The government labeled the accusations as "baseless" and expressed surprise at HRW's ability to identify the culprits while an official inquiry is still ongoing.

According to the HRW report released on Thursday, the military executed inhabitants of Nodin and Soro, including 56 children, as part of a targeted campaign against civilians suspected of collaborating with rebel fighters. The organization based its findings on telephone interviews with witnesses, civil society, and other sources.

The Communications Minister of Burkina Faso, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, stated that the killings in Nodin and Soro had already prompted the launch of a legal investigation. Furthermore, he criticized HRW for preemptively assigning guilt and undermining the ongoing inquiry's independence and impartiality.

HRW characterized the massacre as one of the most severe instances of army abuse in Burkina Faso since 2015. They suggested that the mass killings were part of a wider military campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with Islamist armed groups, potentially amounting to crimes against humanity. HRW called for an urgent, thorough investigation into the massacres, supported by the African Union and the United Nations.

The Burkina Faso government's statement emphasized that it had consistently investigated reported human rights violations in the fight against terrorism, with involvement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The statement referred to the media campaign surrounding these allegations as an attempt to discredit the country's armed forces.

In response to the report, Burkina Faso suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio networks from broadcasting on Thursday after they aired the allegations of attacks on civilians by the army. The region has experienced escalating violence driven by clashes with armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS, worsened by recent coups in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger between 2020 and 2023.

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), Burkina Faso witnessed a sharp increase in deadly attacks in 2023, resulting in the reported deaths of over 8,000 people. The ongoing violence underscores the challenges faced by the region in combating the activities of militant groups.