The transition government in Burkina Faso has expressed its solidarity and compassion to the bereaved families.The main prosecutor at the High Court of Nouna, Armel Sama, announced on Monday that he had opened an investigation after the “discovery” of 28 lifeless bodies in the town of Nouna, in the Boucle du Mouhoun region.

 “It appears that most of the victims, all male, were killed by bullets,” the prosecutor added.

 He assured citizens that everything is being done to ensure that the perpetrators of these “unprecedentedly serious acts” are arrested and brought to justice.

 The government expressed its solidarity with the suffering of the bereaved families and its compassion for them, in a statement by the spokesman, Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo. 

It maintained that all measures are being taken to shed light on this unacceptable violence and that the executive remains “firmly committed to ensuring the protection of all Burkinabè without distinction.”

 The Collective against Impunity and Stigmatisation of Communities (CISC) had earlier explained that dozos (traditional hunters) identified as Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP) had targeted neighbourhoods predominantly inhabited by the Fulani community.

This followed a terrorist attack on their headquarters on the night of 29-30 December 2022. 

It reported more than twenty victims, including children, and the looting of people’s property.

 The civil society organisation accused the army’s auxiliaries of being responsible for around thirty cases of summary and extra-judicial executions since mid-December 2022. 

It called on the government to supervise them.