[News] Burkina Faso: Twelve terror suspects 'found dead in their cells'

[#Sissa]

Burkina Faso is fighting Islamist insurgents with ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group

Twelve people arrested on suspicion of terror offences have been found dead in their police cells
in Burkina Faso.

The prosecutor for the town of Fada N'Gourma said 25 people had been detained overnight on Monday, and "unfortunately, 12 of them have
died during the course of the night in the cells they were being held in".

The cause of death is currently unknown. Security sources told AFP news agency it
may have been asphyxiation.

An investigation has been launched.

In a similar episode in July 2019, 11 people accused of drug trafficking were found dead in a cell belonging to the
national police's drugs squad.

It comes less than a month after Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it believed Burkina Faso security forces had executed 31
unarmed men in the northern town of Djibo, a few hours after arresting them in a counter-terror operation.

Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa, is fighting Islamist insurgents with ties to al-
Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

More than 300 civilians have been killed by militants, according to HRW, while the government has
killed several hundred for allegedly supporting them.

Most of the 12 dead men were ethnic Fulas, a group often accused of jihadist links, AFP reports. Burkina Faso's security
forces have been repeatedly accused of mistreating them.

A local human rights organisation said a Fula teacher accused of having terrorist associations was found dead in a police
station in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on 2 May.