He lay on top of his young sons and tried to protect them with his body, he said.
The army forced them and dozens of other villagers under a baobab tree. Then the soldiers opened fire, he said.
“They fired at all of us,” said Dauda, a farmer who had survived for years in jihadist-held territory, only to be shot by the troops who were supposed to protect him. said.
The mass killings in Dauda's village and nearby settlements in February were the deadliest in a decade of unrest in Burkina Faso, which has been torn apart by Islamist rebels that have attacked parts of western Africa. This was one of the incidents.
Burkina Faso has been under relentless attack by extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and last year topped the Global Terrorism Index, making it the world's worst-hit country.
The resulting conflict killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million people (10 percent of the country's population).
But in its decade-long battle with the rebels, Burkina Faso's military has waged a brutal war of its own. Survivors and human rights groups say they are accused of repeatedly targeting civilians suspected of collaborating with jihadists or simply living nearby. Soldiers say they often kill civilians on the spot.
Sometimes murder is done as revenge. Before the army descended on the village of Dauda, known as Solo, rebel forces had attacked a government-aligned outpost.
Shortly after, soldiers appeared and instantly killed more than 223 people in Solo and the nearby village of Nong Dinh on February 25, Human Rights Watch said last month. Dozens of women and 56 children were found murdered.
The New York Times interviewed villagers and reviewed cellphone video of the aftermath. Footage recorded in the empty village a few days later showed residents burying bodies in eight mass graves. The Times confirmed that the video was shot solo, and satellite images taken two weeks later confirmed the apparent mass grave.
The Burkina Faso government said it had opened an investigation into the killings, but denied that the military was responsible. Instead, it suspended the BBC, Voice of America, and other international news organizations simply for reporting Human Rights Watch findings.
Still, Burkina Faso's Security Minister Mahamoudou Sana issued a vague but chilling statement the day after the killing, slamming those suspected of supporting the rebels “passively or actively”.
Most of the survivors, including Dauda and his family, are now on the run from Solo, but their full names are being withheld for their safety. Villagers returning home after the killings found the bodies of dozens of men around the baobab tree, and the bodies of women and children in the courtyard.
The turmoil in Burkina Faso has also fueled political instability, with rebel fighters twice citing the conflict as grounds for seizing power by force in the past two-and-a-half years.
Captain Ibrahim Traore, who staged the latest coup in 2022 and currently rules the country, is waging a full-scale war against Islamic extremists. He has registered and armed more than 50,000 private militias and called on the public to turn in neighbors and people suspected of collaborating with extremists.
People living in conflict areas such as the villages of Solo and Nong Dinh, which were attacked on February 25, are sometimes caught in the crossfire.
Dauda said al-Qaeda-linked militants have for years forced his village to live under an interpretation of Islamic law and pay taxes (mainly in the form of cow's heads) in return for purported protection. said.
“Without the government's presence, we had no choice but to accept the agreement or leave the village,” he said.
The militants also banned Solo and Nondin men from joining the ranks of civilian militias (known as Homeland Defense Volunteers) fighting alongside Burkina Faso's army.
Therefore, instead of being protected by the military or civilian militia, the men in the village became targets.
Corinne Dufka, an analyst with many years of experience in Burkina, said: “The military and civilian militias have cast a very wide net against those perceived to be supporting jihadist groups, and are trying to encourage the growth of these groups.'' They are executing them in order to crush them.” Faso.
In Burkina Faso, Islamic extremists kill far more civilians than the army or militia. It also killed scores of soldiers and cut off access to food shipments and humanitarian aid.
However, as the number of private militias has increased over the past 18 months, reports of mass killings have also increased. And Burkina Faso authorities have largely ignored calls from the European Union, United Nations and others for a proper investigation. They silenced local journalists, expelled foreign reporters, and forcibly conscripted critics, including human rights activists. Reporters Without Borders has designated Burkina Faso and other countries in the region led by military regimes as “no-press zones.”
Foreign diplomats are also being targeted. Burkina Faso's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires this month after the U.S. and Britain said in a joint statement that they were “gravely concerned by reports of a massacre of civilians.”
It is unclear whether Burkina Faso's military has made any significant gains in the war since Captain Traoré took over in 2022. The government says Burkina Faso controls 70 percent of the country, but diplomats and humanitarian workers estimate that Islamic extremists will have freedom of movement within 60 years. percent of the country.
Officials did not respond to requests for comment. In April 2023, men in military uniform admitted to killing a number of civilians in an attack. Prosecutors have launched an investigation, but so far no conclusions have been made public.
Just before the soldiers arrived in the village of Solo on February 25, jihadists attacked a civilian militia outpost several miles away, according to a report broadcast by Burkina Faso's state television. It was one of many attacks across Burkina Faso that day.
“The soldiers asked us, 'Where are they?'” Dauda said, speculating that the military was asking about Islamic extremists.
A 32-year-old woman interviewed by Human Rights Watch said a soldier told her: You guys are terrorists! ”
Soldiers rounded up the men and shot those who tried to flee, according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch. He also corralled women and children into the courtyard of his house.
Dauda said he tried to catch a glimpse of his wife under a baobab tree, but men in military uniform opened fire and the crowd was soon obscured by dust. Another soldier on guard duty ordered him to bow his head, so he laid down on top of his 9- and 10-year-old sons.
After a few minutes, the soldiers sprayed the men with bullets.
Dauda said he managed to emerge from the pile of bodies unharmed, but his two sons were shot in the legs. He rushed to the courtyard to look for his wife, but most of the women there were dead. Several babies were crying on their backs. His wife wasn't there.
Dauda said she was able to carry her two injured sons and eventually flee to a neighboring country with the help of a neighbor. The next day he found his wife there too. Most of the villagers and people from surrounding settlements had fled after the attack.
Dauda said he didn't know if he would be able to return home.
The soldiers did not stop even after Solo's killing. They advanced several miles to the village of Nong Dinh, where dozens more people were killed, according to Human Rights Watch.
Video obtained by The Times shows the grieving continues and people still tending to mass graves. Messages paying tribute to the victims of the “genocide of February 25, 2024” were carved into fresh cement at several locations in Solo's makeshift mass graves.
“May their souls rest in peace,” it says.
