Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – The Burkinabe government has dismissed a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report claiming that more than 1,800 civilians were killed in alleged abuses by military forces and allied militias over the three years since Ibrahim Traoré seized power.
“The report is false, consisting of conjecture and serious unfounded claims,” the government said in a statement on Sunday. “Its only purpose is to demonise our troops, who have always fought with professionalism.”
The HRW report, released last week, documented 1,837 civilian deaths between January 2023 and August 2025, including dozens of children, across 57 incidents. The rights group attributed 1,255 of the killings to military forces and allied militias, with the remainder blamed on Islamist militants.
“All sides are responsible for the war crimes of willful killing, attacks on civilians and civilian objects, pillage and looting, and forced displacement,” HRW said, adding that the scale of atrocities in Burkina Faso is mind-boggling, with little global attention to the crisis.
One of the deadliest incidents cited in the report occurred in December 2023 in the northern town of Djibo, where HRW claims the military and militias killed more than 400 civilians. Survivors described the violence as brutal:
“Make sure no-one is breathing before heading out,” one militia member allegedly said, according to a 35-year-old woman who lost her two daughters and was herself injured along with her nine-month-old son.
The militias allied with the military, known as Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), have been accused of forced recruitment and violent reprisal campaigns against civilians, particularly in response to attacks by the al-Qaeda-affiliated group JNIM. Civilians report feeling trapped between government forces and jihadist groups.
“Many survivors described the killings as ‘butchery’ and said they were left with deep psychological wounds,” HRW noted.
HRW also called on the International Criminal Court to open a preliminary investigation into alleged crimes committed by all parties since September 2022 and urged Burkina Faso’s international partners to impose sanctions and limit cooperation with the army.
President Traoré, who seized power in September 2022, defended conscription and the use of militias, stating that “individual freedoms [are] not superior to national freedom” and that “a nation is not built on indiscipline and disorder.”
Despite his authoritarian reputation, Traoré has garnered significant popularity across Africa for his pan-Africanist vision and criticism of Western influence. Like Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso has increasingly relied on Russian military assistance in its fight against Islamist insurgents, as violence continues to escalate.
