ABIDJAN, March 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Burkina Faso's ruling junta must "impartially investigate and appropriately prosecute" those implicated in an apparent massacre of civilians this month shown in videos circulating on social media, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

The videos cited in HRW's statement, which authorities dismissed as "manipulative", show dozens of apparently lifeless bodies strewn on the ground, their hands and feet bound, in and around the western city of Solenzo.

Most of the victims are women, children, and elderly people.

"The authorities should impartially investigate and appropriately prosecute all those responsible for serious crimes," the rights watchdog said.

"The gruesome videos of an apparent massacre by pro-government militias in Burkina Faso underscore the pervasive lack of accountability of these forces," said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW, according to its statement.

"Burkinabe authorities should take immediate action to end militia group attacks on civilians by punishing those responsible for atrocities like in Solenzo."

A local source told AFP that government forces and allied militias massacred "whole families" of Fulani between March 10 and 11.

Primarily nomadic herders, the Fulani people are often stigmatised across the wider Sahel, accused of collaborating with the jihadists who stalk the region and providing the bulk of their recruits.

According to the source, the perpetrators were troops from the 18th rapid intervention battalion as well as members of allied self-defence militias.

The rapid intervention battalions are special counter-insurgency units created by junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore, who came to power in an October 2022 coup. They have regularly been accused of abuses against civilians.

HRW counted 58 bodies of people who are dead or dying in the videos, but said the toll could be higher as corpses are piled on top of each other.

"These are manipulative actions aimed at calling into question the actions of the fighting forces," Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said on Friday.

"Major counter-terrorism operations are currently underway. The army's steamroller is crushing the enemy in these areas", he added.

Ouedraogo also announced the creation of new rapid intervention battalions and civilian defence militias, saying the government would recruit 14,000 soldiers and thousands of civilian support staff to fight jihadist violence.

The local source said that the bloodshed captured in the videos followed an attack in the area at the beginning of March in the area.

The perpetrators "accused the Fulani people of having sheltered the terrorists who committed the attack", the source added.

"While leaving Solenzo they were caught up with by soldiers from the 18th rapid intervention brigade and some volunteers. They were tortured and massacred," the source said.

In the past decade, Burkina Faso has been caught up in a spiral of jihadist violence spilling over from neighbouring Mali and Niger, which has since spread far beyond the three countries' borders.

All three have experienced coups in recent years by military rulers who have pledged to turn the tables on the Islamist groups.

Since 2015, the unrest has killed more than 26,000 people, both civilians and soldiers, across Burkina Faso, according to conflict monitor ACLED.

That tally included more than 13,500 victims who have died following the September 2022 coup which brought the military to power.

Between January and July 2024, the Burkinabe army and its auxiliaries killed "at least a thousand civilians", according to HRW.