Burkina Faso’s military has committed serious atrocities, including the ethnic cleansing of Fulani civilians, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which says the abuses amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a report released on Thursday titled None Can Run Away, the New York-based rights group said its findings were based on in-person and phone interviews with more than 450 people across Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Mali, covering abuses between January 2023 and August 2025.
Using extensive open-source evidence including satellite imagery, audiovisual material, and official records researchers verified 57 incidents involving Burkinabe military forces, allied militias known as the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDPs), and the al-Qaeda-linked armed group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM).
HRW found that all parties committed war crimes, including deliberate killings, attacks on civilians and civilian property, looting, and forced displacement.
According to the report, of the 1,837 civilians killed between January 2023 and August 2025, more than 1,200 were attributed to government forces.
The United Nations estimates that at least two million people have been displaced since the conflict began.
HRW said President Ibrahim Traoré, who also serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, along with six senior military officials, may bear responsibility for serious abuses and should be investigated.
It added that Iyad Ag Ghaly, the leader of JNIM who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes in Mali between 2012 and 2013, along with four other commanders, could also be held accountable under the principle of command responsibility.
In one of the deadliest incidents documented, Burkinabe forces and allied militias reportedly killed more than 400 civilians in December 2023 across about 16 villages near the northern town of Djibo.
HRW said the military government, which took power in September 2022, and its allies targeted the Fulani ethnic group over alleged links to armed groups, leading to the ethnic cleansing of entire communities.
“The scale of atrocities taking place in Burkina Faso is staggering, as is the lack of global attention to this crisis,” said Philippe Bolopion.
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