Since late January, northeastern Burkina Faso has been the scene of a series of deadly attacks attributed to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al-Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate. According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), the violence has left at least 38 civilians dead in three separate assaults.
According to the NGO, JNIM fighters have stepped up large-scale offensives in the north and east of the country in recent weeks, causing dozens of deaths, including many civilians. In a statement released Thursday, HRW said the jihadist group “killed at least 38 civilians, abducted nine women, and burned property” during attacks carried out in the region since late January.
Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta since September 2022, remains engulfed in a deep security crisis. Since 2015, violence linked to armed groups has killed tens of thousands of people, both civilians and soldiers. According to the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict-related casualties worldwide, more than half of these deaths have occurred over the past three years.
To document the incidents, Human Rights Watch said it conducted remote interviews with around 20 people, including ten direct witnesses to the attacks, as well as journalists, civil society members, and residents of the affected villages. The organization described the acts as “atrocities” and said they could amount to war crimes.
According to HRW, the attacks appeared to target communities suspected of supporting or having ties with the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), a civilian auxiliary force that assists the Burkinabè army in its fight against jihadist groups.
On January 29, near the village of Sollé in the north of the country, JNIM fighters abducted nine women aged between 29 and 51. The captives were reportedly threatened with rape and execution before being released the following day. The attackers suspected them of being “wives of VDP members” who had come to spy on them, a 42-year-old woman told the NGO.
A few weeks later, on February 14, another attack attributed to JNIM targeted a military base in Titao, a strategic town in northern Burkina Faso. According to HRW, at least 34 civilians were executed during the assault, which also saw homes burned and telecommunications infrastructure destroyed.
A 37-year-old farmer told the organization he had witnessed the violence. “I hid behind a wall while men trying to flee were shot dead before my eyes,” he said.
Finally, on February 22, fighters from the armed group attacked a gendarmerie post in the eastern town of Manni. Four shopkeepers were executed and their stores set on fire, according to HRW.
“The brutality of JNIM against civilians in Burkina Faso has been relentless,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch.