Human Rights Watch has documented the killing of at least 1,837 civilians in Burkina Faso between January 2023 and August 2025 — attributing the deaths to government forces, civilian militias, and jihadist groups alike — in a damning report released Thursday that calls for an International Criminal Court investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The New York-based rights group found that Burkina Faso’s military and its civilian auxiliaries — the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) — were responsible for at least 1,255 of those deaths in 33 documented incidents. Jihadi groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group killed at least 582 civilians in 24 separate attacks over the same period.
Butchery in the North
Among the deadliest episodes was a multi-day wave of killings in at least 16 villages and hamlets north of Djibo in December 2023, carried out by military forces and VDP militiamen. Survivors described the attacks to HRW researchers as “butchery” and spoke of deep psychological wounds that persist to this day.
In August 2024, in the VDP stronghold town of Barsalogho, fighters from the JNIM group (Support Group for Islam and Muslims, an Al-Qaeda affiliate) killed at least 133 people and injured more than 200 in under two hours — one of the single bloodiest attacks in Burkina’s years-long insurgency.
ICC Called to Investigate
HRW’s report names six senior Burkinabe leaders who should face investigation, including transitional President and army commander Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a September 2022 coup. The group also called for the ICC prosecutor to open a preliminary examination into crimes committed by all sides since Traoré’s takeover.
Other officials named include Burkina Faso’s ambassador to Washington and former defence minister Kassoum Coulibaly, current Defence Minister Celestin Simpore, and army major general Moussa Diallo. On the militant side, HRW wants investigations into JNIM supreme leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, his deputy Amadou Kouffa, and Burkina JNIM commander Jafar Dicko.
Methodology and Scale
HRW says it verified the killings using open-source material — including photographs, videos, and satellite imagery — and conducted more than 450 interviews with people in Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Mali. The NGO also called on Burkina Faso’s international partners and donors to impose sanctions and halt cooperation with the army until accountability is established.
Captain Traoré’s junta, which seized power promising to crush the jihadist insurgency, has instead presided over a conflict that has grown deadlier by the year. More than 10,000 people have been killed since 2015, and nearly two million have been displaced — most of them in the past three years.