Islamist armed groups terrorize civilians in Burkina Faso-Human Rights Watch

The Human Rights Watch group has warned about the ever-increasing cases of attacks on civilians by the Islamist armed groups in Burkina Faso.

The rights group further said that the armed groups have massacred villagers, displaced people, and Christian worshipers.

They claim the group has killed at least 128 civilians across Burkina Faso since February 2024 in attacks that violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.

The two main Islamic groups linked to Al-Qaeda, the Support of Islam and Muslims and the Islamic State control large swathes of land and have been fighting with the Burkina forces since they entered the country in 2016.

“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 latest attack saw at least 100 villagers and soldiers killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaida-linked jihadis in late August.

About half of Burkina Faso is outside of government control as the country has been ravaged by increasing jihadi attacks, encircling the capital. The jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.

The violence contributed to two coups in 2022. Still, the military junta that promised to end the attacks has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia and other junta-led, conflict-hit countries in Africa’s Sahel region.

At least 4,500 people, an average of 19 daily, have been killed this year in attacks by armed groups in the country, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit.

Burkina Faso’s junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore — who activists say was drafting critics to join the army as punishment — has also been requesting civilians to assist the military in security efforts. A civilian task force, Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), is already working closely with the military.

The trenches being dug in the Barsalogho commune are among the several that authorities urged civilians to help create in areas the jihadis are seeking control of.

The jihadis are becoming more successful because of a lack of efficient air cover and intelligence by security forces. They are also active because of ineffective control of areas bordering Mali and Niger, two countries also struggling with violent attacks, according to Nasr. Human rights abuses committed by the country’s security forces and VDP have also led more people to join the jihadis, he said.