A damning new report from Human Rights Watch has laid bare the scale of civilian bloodshed in Burkina Faso, documenting at least 1,837 civilians killed across 57 major incidents in the West African nation between January 2023 and August 2025. The report, released on April 2, 2026, does not spare any party to the conflict — accusing both the military-led government and jihadist insurgents of atrocities that may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The findings are staggering: Burkina Faso’s own army and its civilian auxiliaries, the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), were responsible for at least 1,255 civilian deaths in 33 documented incidents. Meanwhile, JNIM, the al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist group that holds significant territory across the Sahel, killed at least 582 civilians in 24 separate attacks over the same period.
“The Burkinabe military and VDPs killed hundreds of civilians in at least 16 villages and hamlets north of Djibo over several days in December 2023,” the report details. Survivors described the killings as “butchery.” In August 2024, JNIM fighters carried out one of the single deadliest attacks, shooting dead at least 133 people in under two hours in the VDP-stronghold town of Barsalogho.
The report names Burkina Faso’s military ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traoré — who seized power in a September 2022 coup — as bearing command responsibility for abuses by state forces. HRW has called on the International Criminal Court to open a preliminary examination into war crimes committed by all parties since 2022.
Despite Traoré’s promises to end jihadist violence when he took power, the country has seen no respite. The conflict, which began with attacks by groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, has now expanded into a full-blown crisis where government forces themselves are implicated in widespread abuses.
Human Rights Watch is urging Burkina Faso’s international partners — including France and other Western donors who have historically supported the country’s security forces — to impose sanctions and halt cooperation with the military until accountability is established.
The international community can no longer ignore the crisis unfolding in Burkina Faso. As the death toll climbs and both sides commit atrocities with apparent impunity, the people of Burkina Faso — already displaced in their hundreds of thousands — are caught between multiple forms of violence.