Burkina Faso: Islamic terrorist attacks against civilians on the rise: summary executions, sexual violence, kidnappings and looting

ROMA – Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso have stepped up attacks against civilians, writes Human Rights Watch (HRW). At least 128 people have died across the country since February 2024. The two main terrorist groups that government forces are fighting are the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, both originating from Mali and having entered Burkina Faso in 2016.

The facts. Since taking power in a military coup in September 2022, President Ibrahim Traoré has deployed many civilian auxiliaries, called “Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland,” to guard the vast areas of the territory that escape state control. Former President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré created the Volunteers in January 2020 precisely to strengthen local protection against Islamist armed groups. In October 2022, the military authorities launched a campaign to recruit 50,000 more members. Islamist armed groups responded by attacking villages guarded by the Volunteers. The Minister of Justice claims that joint operations by Burkinabe forces and the Volunteers have allowed the reconquest of several localities that were previously besieged by terrorists and have allowed the resettlement of displaced people and the reopening of educational and health facilities.

The crimes of terrorists. Human Rights Watch has documented abuses by Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso: summary executions, sexual violence, kidnappings and looting. Terrorists have systematically attacked students, teachers and schools and continue to threaten several locations across the country, planting explosive devices along roads leading to cities and preventing residents from obtaining food, accessing basic services and receiving aid.

Government Crimes. On the other side, Burkina Faso’s armed forces and Volunteers have also committed serious abuses during operations against Islamists. The government has the primary responsibility to ensure justice for the most serious crimes, but has made little progress in investigating, much less prosecuting, those responsible for the numerous crimes committed in the armed conflict since 2016.

The African Union. The civilian toll of the ongoing conflict in Burkina Faso underscores the challenges of the entire African continent in the Sahel region. The African Union has failed to vigorously investigate conflict-related crimes, improve the protection of civilians, or seek justice for abuses. In July 2023, the Council of the Union visited Burkina Faso and pledged to increase humanitarian support to the country, but it has failed to address the issue of impunity, which is a key driver of abuses.

The victimsMore than 26,000 people have been killed during the conflict that began in 2016: of these, around 15,500 have died since the military coup in September 2022 and more than 6,000 since January, according to data released by theArmed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). The latter reports that Islamists killed 1,004 civilians in 259 attacks between January and August, a slight decrease from 1,185 civilian deaths in 413 attacks in the same period last year. According to ACLED, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, linked to al-Qaeda, is active in 11 of Burkina Faso’s 13 regions, while the one linked to the Islamic State operates throughout the Sahel region, which is also a battleground between the two terrorist organizations.