Human Rights Watch (HRW) says about 1,837 civilians, including dozens of children, were killed in 57 incidents between January 2023 and August 2025. It attributes most of the killings - 1,255 - to the military and allied militias, with the rest blamed on Islamist militants.

HRW finds President Traoré and six senior military commanders "may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for grave abuses and should be investigated". It also says five jihadist leaders may be culpable. The Burkinabé authorities have not yet commented on the report but have dismissed previous accusations that their forces have killed civilians.

One of the reasons the military gave for seizing power was to tackle the jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda who have been waging an insurgency in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries for over a decade and control huge parts of the country.

"All sides are responsible for the war crimes of willful killing, attacks on civilians and civilian objects, pillage and looting, and forced displacement", the report says. It accuses the junta of committing "horrific abuses" and failing to hold perpetrators to account while blocking reporting to hide the suffering of civilians caught in the violence.

"The scale of atrocities taking place in Burkina Faso is mind-boggling, as is the lack of global attention to this crisis", says Philippe Bolopion, HRW's executive director. The report cites one of the deadliest incidents in December 2023 in which it says the military and allied militias killed more than 400 civilians in the northern town of Djibo.

A 35-year-old woman told the rights group that her two daughters died on the spot and bullets injured her and her nine-month-old son. "Make sure no-one is breathing before heading out", she recounted a militia member as saying. Survivors described the killings as brutal and said they continue to suffer deep psychological trauma. "Many survivors described the killings as 'butchery' and said they were left with deep psychological wounds", the report notes. (BBC)