DAKAR, Senegal — Women slain with babies wrapped against their bodies, lifeless children intertwined together, a 2-month-old face-up on the ground with puppies crawling on his tiny frame. The scenes were horrifying, but the 32-year-old farmer felt he had to document them, as proof of the carnage in his central Burkina Faso village. More than a dozen relatives were killed Nov.
Dozens more were killed that day in Zaongo village, according to his account and that of two other survivors, as well as a U.N. report citing government figures. The images the man sent AP and the interviews with the three survivors are rare firsthand accounts amid a stark increase in civilian killings by Burkina Faso’s security forces as the junta struggles to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency and attacks citizens under the guise of counterterrorism.
During the Nov. 5 attack, men in military uniforms speaking French and local language Moore called for all men to leave their houses, a 45-year-old mother told AP. Peering through the window of the home where she hid, she said, she saw relatives being killed — more than 15 in all. She said she was spotted by a soldier, who motioned for her to lie down and stay silent.
It’s still unclear how many people were killed – reports from survivors, the U.N. and aid groups vary, from 70 to more than 200. Survivors are displaced in different parts of the country. They’re calling on the government to hold the killers accountable while living in fear that it could happen again. 'We never thought that so many people could be killed at once,' said the surviving woman who spoke to AP. 'When a door slams or a child shouts, we’re frightened.
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