A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has detailed extensive violence against civilians in Burkina Faso since the military government seized power. According to the findings, at least 1,837 civilians, including dozens of children, were killed in 57 incidents between January 2023 and August 2025, with acts amounting to "war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The report attributes the majority of killings – 1,255 – to the military and allied militias, while the rest are blamed on Islamist militant groups. HRW finds that President Ibrahim Traoré and six senior military commanders "may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for grave abuses and should be investigated," and also identifies five jihadist leaders as potentially culpable. The Burkinabé authorities have dismissed previous accusations of civilian killings by their forces.

Based on analysis of open-source information, such as photos, videos, and satellite imagery, along with interviews with witnesses and survivors, the report highlights one of the deadliest incidents in December 2023, where the military and allied militias allegedly killed over 400 civilians in the northern town of Djibo. A 35-year-old woman recounted that her two daughters died instantly, and she and her nine-month-old son were injured by bullets, with a militia member reportedly saying, "Make sure no-one is breathing before heading out."

The military government supports militias known as Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), civilians recruited to aid the army against jihadist groups. The junta has been accused of forcing critics to join this group as punishment. Traoré has defended conscription, stating that "individual freedoms [are] not superior to national freedom" and that "a nation is not built on indiscipline and disorder." Civilians described feeling "caught between a rock and a hard place," threatened by jihadists while also targeted by government forces.

Burkina Faso, along with neighboring Mali and Niger under military rule, has shifted away from cooperation with Western countries, particularly France, in combating Islamist groups, turning instead to Russia for military assistance, yet violence persists unabated. HRW is urging the International Criminal Court to open a preliminary investigation into the alleged crimes committed by all parties since September 2022 and has called on Burkina Faso's partners and donors to impose sanctions and refrain from cooperating with the country's army.

Source: www.bbc.com