SOLDIERS in Burkina Faso killed 223 civilians, including babies and many children, in attacks on two villages accused of co-operating with militants, Human Rights Watch said in a report published yesterday.

The mass killings took place on February 25 in the northern villages of Nondin and Soro and 56 children were among the dead, according to the report.

The human rights organisation called on the United Nations and the African Union to provide investigators and to support local efforts to bring those responsible to justice.