JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, September 18, 2024/APO Group/ --

Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso have escalated their attacks on civilians, massacring villagers, displaced people, and Christian worshipers, Human Rights Watch said today. Since February 2024, the armed groups have killed at least 128 civilians across the country in seven attacks that violated international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.

Government forces have been fighting insurgencies by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), since the armed groups entered Burkina Faso from Mali in 2016. The two Islamist armed groups control large swathes of Burkinabè territory; they have attacked civilians as well as government security forces, and fought each other.

“We are witnessing an incredibly concerning surge in Islamist violence in Burkina Faso. The Islamist armed groups’ massacres of villagers, worshipers, and displaced people are not only war crimes, but a cruel affront to human decency,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The leaders of the Islamist armed groups should immediately end these deadly attacks on civilians.”

From May to July, Human Rights Watch interviewed 37 people, including 31 witnesses to attacks on civilians. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Burkina Faso justice minister on June 26 and the country’s ambassador to the United States on July 30, sharing research findings and requesting responses to specific questions. The justice minister responded to Human Rights Watch on August 28. 

The ISGS claimed responsibility for a February attack on a church in the village of Essakane, Sahel region, that killed at least 12 civilians. No warring party has claimed responsibility for the other documented attacks against civilians. Witnesses said they believed the attackers were members of Islamist armed groups because of their mode of operations, choice of targets, and clothing, including turbans similar to those worn during these groups’ previous attacks.

Witnesses to several attacks believed they were going to retaliate against local communities for their alleged collaboration with government security forces and allied civilian auxiliaries. In May, Islamist fighters attacked an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Goubré, North region, killing over 70 people, allegedly to punish those unwilling to submit to the group’s rule.

The February attack on church worshipers in Essakane resulted in the deaths of at least 12 civilians. “I saw a huge pool of blood and traces of blood all over the church, as well as bullet marks on the benches,” said a 28-year-old man who lost his 49-year-old brother, a teacher, in the attack. “At the cemetery, I saw 12 bodies, including my brother’s body, with bullet wounds in the chest and in the back, and his mouth covered with blood.”

President Ibrahim Traoré, since taking power in a September 2022 military coup, has increased the use of civilian auxiliaries called Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (Volontaires pour la défense de la patrie , commonly known as VDPs). Former President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré initially created the VDPs in January 2020 to strengthen local protection against Islamist armed groups. In October 2022, the military authorities opened a campaign to recruit 50,000 more members. The Islamist armed groups responded by attacking villages they accused of supporting the VDPs. The justice minister, in his response to Human Rights Watch, said that joint operations by Burkinabè forces and VDPs “reconquer[ed] several localities” held by Islamist armed groups, and permitted the resettlement of displaced people and the reopening of educational and health facilities.

“The jihadists opened fire in the village indiscriminately,” said a 35-year-old farmer who witnessed an attack by alleged JNIM fighters in the town of Sindo, Hauts-Bassins region, on June 11. “I hid in a shop, and I could hear heavy gunshots above my head. Some of them hit the shop, others fell into the courtyard.”

Human Rights Watch has previously documented other Islamist armed group abuses in Burkina Faso, including summary executions, sexual violence, abductions, and pillaging. The groups have also attacked students, teachers, and schools; and continue to besiege several localities across the country, planting explosive devices along the roads leading to the towns, and cutting residents off from food, basic services, and aid.

The Burkina Faso armed forces and VDPs have also committed serious abuses during operations against Islamist armed groups.

The Burkinabè government has primary responsibility under international law for ensuring justice for the most serious crimes, but has made scant progress in investigating, much less prosecuting, those responsible for the many grave offenses committed as part of the armed conflict since 2016. The justice minister, in his response to Human Rights Watch, said that “all allegations of human rights violations or abuses committed by terrorists are subject to investigations aimed at determining responsibility and sanctioning the perpetrators. … [S]everal judicial investigations have been initiated by military prosecutors or civilian courts.”

The fighting between Burkina Faso government forces and the Islamist armed groups is governed by the laws of war for a non-international armed conflict. Applicable law includes Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and other treaty and customary laws of war, which apply to non-state armed groups as well as national armed forces. The laws of war prohibit attacks on civilians, summary executions, torture and other ill-treatment, sexual violence, and looting. Serious violations of the laws of war committed by individuals with criminal intent, including as a matter of command responsibility, are war crimes.

The civilian toll in Burkina Faso’s ongoing conflict underlines the challenges of African regional responses to the violence in the country and in the entire Sahel region. The African Union (AU), including the AU Peace and Security Council, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), has not sufficiently addressed conflict-related abuses, improved protection of civilians, or sought justice for the abuses.

In July 2023, the AU council visited Burkina Faso and committed to increase AU humanitarian support for the country. The council, however, did not address impunity as a key driver of abuse, or act further to protect civilians or hold accountable those responsible for grave abuses.

The ACHPR has held four sessions between August 2023 and June 2024 without sufficiently discussing the human rights situation in Burkina Faso, despite considerable evidence of the serious abuses.

“The AU Peace and Security Council needs to address the upsurge in atrocities in Burkina Faso and the deteriorating situation in the country,” Allegrozzi said. “The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights should investigate ongoing abuses and provide meaningful options for accountability.”

For witness accounts and other details, please see below. The names of those interviewed have been withheld for their protection.

Unlawful Attacks by Islamist Armed Groups Since February 2024

Over 26,000 people have been killed during the conflict since 2016, including about 15,500 since the military coup in September 2022, and over 6,000 since January, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).

The ACLED reported that Islamist armed groups killed 1,004 civilians in 259 attacks between January and August, compared to the 1,185 civilians in 413 attacks in the same period last year. These figures do not include the 100 to 400 civilians killed during the August 24 attack on the city of Barsalogho, Sanmatenga province, for which the JNIM claimed responsibility. Human Rights Watch is investigating the attack.

The ACLED reported that the JNIM is active in 11 out of 13 of Burkina Faso’s regions. The ISGS thus far has only operated in the Sahel region, where the two armed groups have clashed.

Niamana, Hauts-Bassins Region, June 30

On June 30, four alleged JNIM fighters killed at least two civilian men, aged 34 and 40, in the village of Niamana. The JNIM had previously operated in Niamana and attacked security forces and civilians in the village. Three witnesses said the attack was in apparent retaliation against the local community for joining the VDPs.

One witness said:

“At 10 a.m., we went to our rice field, and we were surprised by the jihadists. They were armed with Kalashnikovs [military assault rifles] and had turbans on their heads.… We ran away, but my brother was shot at close range. Then, they killed another man in a nearby field.… I saw the body.… We called the VDPs and the military, but they couldn’t do anything.… I could not even bury my brother. I fled the area and never went back.”

A 40-year-old villager said:

“The jihadists [originally] came here in 2021.… They prohibited us from reporting their positions to the military.… We were scared. We accepted, and everything was fine … until the recruitment of VDPs.… In June 2023, the jihadists warned us not to join the VDPs, threatening us with eviction or attack.… They gave us 24 hours to leave, they said that if they found anyone in the village, they would kill them.”

Witnesses said that after the ultimatum, many villagers fled Niamana, but that some returned in May 2024 following pressure from Burkinabè authorities, who promised to ensure the security of returnees. “We are between a rock and a hard place,” a 56-year-old villager said. “On the one hand, the authorities press us to return to villages where security is not guaranteed; on the other hand, the jihadists attack us when we return to our fields and homes … because some of us joined the VDPs.”

Sindo, Hauts-Bassins Region, June 11 and 18

Killing of 20 Civilians

On June 11, alleged JNIM fighters attacked Sindo town, killing at least 20 civilian men, looting shops and homes, stealing livestock, and causing the mass displacement of the local population. Sindo is in an area where the JNIM had operated and carried out attacks. A number of witnesses said they believed the attack was in apparent retaliation against the local community whom the fighters accused of joining the VDPs.

“We have been living under jihadists’ rule for a while,” said a 50-year-old woman who fled Sindo after the June 11 attack. “But it is only when some of our young people enrolled in the VDPs that we got in trouble.”

A VDP, 39, in Sindo said:

“At the beginning there was no problem [with the jihadists].… When we decided to enroll our young people into the VDPs, around mid-2023, they began to attack us …, set our town hall and our school on fire, looted our animals and … warn[ed] us not to join the VDPs if we wanted to stay alive.”

Witnesses said the armed Islamists had attacked Sindo at least twice in late 2023, and that many residents who fled out of fear came back following pressure and reassurances from local authorities. “Authorities … asked us to return, they promised that the VDPs and the military would ensure our security,” a 52-year-old man said. “But that was not the case.… The government forced us to return and … now we lost everything.”

The Burkinabè justice minister, in his response to Human Rights Watch, said that the return of displaced populations has been voluntary and “preceded by actions” aimed at “securing localities and reopening basic social services and administration.”

Witnesses said that fighters entered the town at about 4 p.m. on June 11 through the bush.

A herder, 24, said:

“At around 3 p.m., we saw six terrorists coming toward us.… They started gathering our animals to take them away.… My two friends ran away, but I confronted the jihadists. So, one among them shot me in the left foot.… Then, they left with my animals, leaving me bleeding.”

A 35-year-old farmer who lost two of his relatives in the attack said he saw at least two dozen heavily armed fighters, wearing headscarves, shooting “everywhere … for at least 20 minutes.” He hid in the nearby bush until the next day, when some VDPs arrived in Sindo to help bury the dead. The farmer said he found the bodies of his older brother, 36, and his cousin, 24:

“My brother had a bullet wound in the head.… I saw a small hole in the forehead and a bigger one in the back of his head. His shop had been completely looted.… My cousin was killed in the street, most likely as he attempted to escape. I found his body lying on the ground.”

Human Rights Watch obtained two lists compiled by survivors and relatives of the victims with the names of the 20 men killed, ages 24 to 75. But survivors said they believe the death toll was much higher. “People were not all killed in the same place,” said a resident, who helped bury the bodies. “We found bodies in the village, on the outskirts and in the bush.… [S]ome were shot, others had their throats slit.” Survivors and relatives of the victims asserted that none of those killed had joined the VDPs.

Beating of Five Women

On June 18, alleged JNIM fighters threatened and beat at least five women when they returned to Sindo to collect their belongings, two of the women said.

“Twenty jihadists on motorbikes rounded us up,” a 40-year-old woman said. “One said: ‘Why did you come back when we forced everyone out?’ They took some tree branches and started beating us. We writhed in pain. One even said we should be killed. But then, they let us go.”

A woman, 50, who is a trader, said:

“I went home and took my fabrics.… I saw two terrorists, between ages 18 and 20. They could have been my kids! One asked me in Fulfulde [a widely spoken language in the region]: ‘What are you doing here?’ … I begged them to have mercy on me because of my age, I am an old woman.… They burned my fabrics in front of me with a lighter. One of them tripped me with the back of his gun.… Then they took me where the other women were being beaten and threatened to kill us.”

Mansila, Sahel Region, June 11

On June 16, the JNIM claimed responsibility for a June 11 attack on an army base in Mansila, and said it killed 107 soldiers, captured 7 others, and seized weapons and ammunitions.

Several witnesses said the JNIM fighters also killed at least 20 civilians in Mansila and burned some homes during the attack. This information has been corroborated by several international media outlets. Human Rights Watch reviewed and geolocated a video filmed by the JNIM and widely circulated on social media, showing the assault on the military barracks, and also reviewed another video of the military equipment that the fighters allegedly seized.

President Traoré said on June 20, in response, that the military had initiated a military operation and sent reinforcements. Yet, no information was provided on the outcome.

Witnesses said that on June 11 after 2 p.m., heavily armed Islamist fighters, dressed in military fatigues or civilian clothes, and wearing red and green turbans, arrived in Mansila on motorbikes. The fighters attacked the military barracks and engaged in combat with the soldiers. They then stormed the town of Mansila and went door-to-door ordering people out of their homes and summarily executing men they accused of collaborating with the army.

A 30-year-old resident said:

"There was heavy shooting for several hours around the military base.… Then, they [fighters] came to town and went to every house ordering people to leave.… They let the women and children and some men go but captured and executed other men.… They said in Fulfulde that the population of Mansila has done a deal with the army so it should be punished.”

A 30-year-old woman said that “they [fighters] got all civilians out of their homes, as if they wanted to protect them, but they captured some men and executed them on the claim that they were VDPs.”

A man, 75, said that at 6 p.m., when “shooting had died down,” he saw “at least 20 bodies of men who had been killed in front of their courtyards.” He said that at night shooting sporadically resumed around the military barracks, until the moment when he “understood that the base had fallen.”

He said that the following morning, June 12, the Islamist fighters continued looting homes, livestock, and other civilian property, including his bicycle, as well as military equipment. The man said that around midday, a military helicopter landed in Mansila with what he said was a “high-ranking officer.” The officer assessed “the huge damage” and a high number of casualties both among the soldiers – “with only three or four still alive” – and civilians.

Goubré, North Region, May 22

On May 22 at about 4 p.m., several hundred alleged JNIM fighters attacked a VDP base and a displaced persons’ camp (IDP) in Goubré, killing at least 80 people, including 8 VDPs and 72 civilians, 6 of them children, and injuring at least 40 others, several witnesses said. On May 24, the JNIM claimed responsibility for the attack against a the VDP base in Goubré, saying it killed “many” of them. The camp, which housed over 3,500 displaced people at the time, has since been shut down. On May 24, Alain Akpadji, the interim UN humanitarian coordinator in Burkina Faso, issued a statement deploring the attack, which resulted in the killing of an aid worker.

Witnesses said that the fighters, armed with Kalashnikov-style assault rifles and wearing military uniforms or civilian clothes with turbans, first attacked the VDP base about two kilometers away, and then stormed the camp where a local nongovernmental organization was distributing food.

“Some rode motorbikes, others were on foot,” said a 39-year-old camp resident. “They spoke Mooré [a language widely spoken in Burkina Faso] and French with a Fulani accent. They shot everywhere, there was a lot of panic because we were about to receive the food. People screamed and ran away.”

A 42-year-old woman said that “the assailants shot randomly everywhere. I saw scores of bodies of men and women. The bodies were later buried in mass graves or individually.”

A humanitarian worker, 33, said: “I rushed to the scene after the attack to help rescue the injured and bury the dead. I saw a burned truck and … counted at least 70 bodies. We evacuated the injured to Séguénéga and Ouahigouya.”

Human Rights Watch obtained a list compiled by survivors and relatives of the victims with the names of the 72 people killed, including 45 men, 23 women, 2 girls, and 2 boys.

Witnesses said they believed JNIM carried out the attack in apparent retaliation against villagers who refused to join JNIM ranks.

“Those living in the camp were displaced from Baoguin, Wattigué and Gondékoubé,” said a 37-year-old farmer from Wattigué. “We abandoned our village because we refused to join the jihadists. The jihadists were not happy and came to attack us. When they arrived at the camp, they said: ‘Who gave you permission to settle in Goubré?’”

In addition to being near the VDP base, the IDP camp was about six kilometers from an army base in Séguénéga. Witnesses said there were no VDPs or soldiers protecting the camp at the time of the attack. Soldiers only intervened at the end of the attack, shot at the fighters, and chased them as they fled. “Soldiers came, but it was too late,” a 31-year-old woman said. “The fighters had already killed many of us.”

Barhiaga, East Region, May 19

On May 19, suspected JNIM fighters killed the 79-year-old chief of Barhiaga town, accusing him of collaborating with the Burkinabè security forces. Barhiaga is in an area where the JNIM has operated and carried out attacks.

“At about 1 p.m., I saw an Aloba-type motorbike with two armed men who looked like jihadists driving toward the chief’s home,” said a local resident. “Minutes after, I heard two gunshots. When the gunmen left, we found the chief dead with two bullet wounds in the head.”

“Relatives of the chief, who witnessed the killing, told me that the assailants spoke Mooré and Fulfulde, and accused the chief of hosting VDPs in Barhiaga and talking to the defense forces,” said another resident. “We and other villagers buried his body and then we all fled.”

Boukouma, Sahel region, May 1

On May 1, a motor tricycle traveling from Arbinda, a town under JNIM siege, struck a victim-activated improvised explosive device, killing a 26-year-old woman and injuring four other women nearby. Residents believed JNIM fighters had deployed the weapon, which are inherently indiscriminate and banned under the Mine Ban Treaty, which Burkina Faso ratified in 1998.

“I was home in Boukouma at about 10 a.m. when I heard an explosion, and I immediately rushed there, about one kilometer away,” said a resident. “We found the pieces of the body of a young woman on the ground, one leg here, one arm there.”

“Four women were severely injured, with their skin completely pulled off in some parts of their bodies,” said another man. “We helped evacuate them to Arbinda and buried the woman who was killed on the spot.”

He said that VDPs in Arbinda told them they had been escorting women who had left Arbinda in search of firewood.

Djibo, Sahel Region, March 29

On March 29, 15 women were reported missing after they ventured outside the city of Djibo to fetch firewood. Djibo has been under JNIM siege for over two years and combustible material has become scarce.

Three relatives of the missing women said that the women went together to an area called Bakooré, five kilometers from Djibo, in hopes of finding some branches to burn, and never returned. The relatives said they went to the military base in Djibo to report the incident on March 30, and that VDPs went to Bakooré to look for the women but said they could not find them.

Human Rights Watch had previously spoken to several women who reported that Islamist fighters had verbally and physically assaulted them around Djibo as they went to fetch wood or water. Human Rights Watch has documented the kidnapping and rape of women and girls by Islamist armed groups.

Essakane, Sahel Region, February 25

The ISGS on March 8 claimed responsibility for a February 25 attack on a Catholic church in the village of Essakane, saying it killed 15 people. On February 26, the Burkinabè security Minister Mahamoudou Sana told the Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTB), the government-run national television network, that security forces responded to the “simultaneous and coordinated” attacks, and reassured the civilian population that “measures have been taken to strengthen” their security, and called on them to “collaborate” with the military.

Eight witnesses believed the attack was carried out in apparent retaliation against Christians who did not abandon their religion despite an ISGS warning.

A 34-year-old man said:

“The jihadists had long been sending messages threatening all those who do not practice Islam.… They said that they are fighting to restore Islam in all Sahel countries and that they do not tolerate any other religions except Islam. They had warned the Christians in the area to either convert or leave the area, failing which they would kill them.”

Witnesses said that about 20 Islamist fighters stormed the church, ordered the women out, and then opened fire, killing nine people, including two boys, and injuring at least five others, three fatally.

They also said that the fighters, armed with Kalashnikov-style assault rifles, wearing turbans with red bands, and riding motorbikes, surrounded the church at about 9 a.m. “They broke into the church, got the women out and started shooting,” said a man, 36, who was shot in the left foot and in the chest during the attack. “They spoke Fulfulde and screamed ‘Allah Akbar [God is great], we are going to kill you all, you are kufar [a non-believer].’”

A 34-year-old man said:

“I saw about 10 motorbikes with armed men surrounding the church. Minutes after, I heard “taa-taa-taa,” I hid in my shop. There was shooting for several minutes.… When the gunmen left, … I rushed to the scene. Everybody was crying.… I saw nine bodies. They had been shot in the chest and were lying on the ground or on benches in a pool of blood.… I saw three injured in a critical state, they were evacuated to the local health center. I heard that they did not survive.”

Human Rights Watch obtained a partial list with the names of 12 victims – 10 men and 2 boys – compiled by survivors, victims’ family members, and others who helped bury the bodies. The ISGS, several international media outlets, and the diocese of Dori reported that the death toll was at least 15. Human Rights Watch reviewed three photographs shared by witnesses showing at least ten bodies in the church after the attack but was not able to verify them.

Residents said that government security forces arrived when the attack was over to cordon the scene and help evacuate the injured. The victims were buried on February 26 at the Essakane cemetery.