Burkina, Mali troops kill more civilians than jihadists do, data shows
Posted by Naurgul@reddit | anime_titties | View on Reddit | 16 comments
- New report highlights killings by Burkina Faso military, allies
- Civilians' deaths part of 'regional pattern', researcher says
- Killings risk fuelling jihadist recruitment in Sahel, analysts say
Government and allied forces in Burkina Faso have killed more than twice as many civilians as Islamist militants have since 2023, according to a tally of incidents documented in a report, opens new tab published on Thursday by Human Rights Watch.
The pattern is broadly consistent with data shared with Reuters by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict monitoring group, and also applies to neighbouring Mali.
In that country, which like Burkina Faso is ruled by a military-led government that seized power in a coup, government forces and their partners have been responsible for three to four times as many civilian killings as jihadists over the last two years, according to ACLED's data.
Violence involving jihadist groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has surged since 2021, making the Sahel region a global terrorism hotspot.
Widespread deaths of civilians at the hands of government forces could bolster the political legitimacy of militant groups and fuel recruitment, analysts said.
They could also complicate steps by the United States to improve relations with Sahel governments, which expelled French and other Western forces after their respective coups.
The Burkinabe forces' behaviour is part of a regional pattern, raising concerns about military indiscipline and its consequences for counterinsurgency efforts, she said.
Covering the period between January 2023 and August 2025, the HRW report documents 57 incidents in which at least 1,837 civilians were killed. Of those, 33 were committed by government forces and their allies, resulting in 1,255 civilian deaths, according to the report, which details widespread abuses by all parties to the conflict.
"When the army arrived in this village and saw that it was populated, they surrounded the entire village and they exterminated everything – every living being," he told Reuters. “People tried to flee, but if you run, they shoot at you.”
TrueRignak@reddit
Yeah, I'm sure that killing civilians would totally horrify the US, especially the current administration who has been supporting Israel, bombed a school in the hours that followed a surprise attack on Iran, and is warming to Russia and Belarus.
evil__brain@reddit
Burkina Faso and Mali recently checked out of the Anglospawn empire. They've renegotiated terms with western mining corporations and are regulating them much more closely to keep more of their wealth inside their countries. They've dropped French as an official language. They kicked out the French army. They've started buying weapons mainly from Russia and China. And Burkina Faso's foreign minister visited Iran just a week before the start of Epstein Fury and signed broad ranging corporation agreements.
The Good Guys™ aren't happy about losing their slaves so now they've started smearing them. This is manufacturing consent for a future war.
TrueRignak@reddit
I don't know who you are refering to by "Anglospawn empire" or "Good Guys™", but as for France, we aren't exactly at leisure to invade other countries for ressources that we can just buy from other countries.
Even if we wanted, which no-one here is supporting, that would be dissastrous for a number of reason including economic, public opinion and soft-power. Also, given current the threats of a russo-USain alliance against UE, diverting our forces to invade another country would be a nonsense military-wise.
I know that Niger's junta said France is going to attack, but really that is the "manufacture of consent" you are talking about: pretending there is an outside threat in order to justify represive policies.
cursedbones@reddit
Because you already have invaded and kept control of many regions, and still keep some, 13 to be exact.
And France is a nasty colonizer, probably the nastiest. After WW2 when many countries got their independence because their overlords were destroyed by war and couldn't fight back, France was the one who fought the hardest to keep them.
Iran is more or less Vietnam 2.0. the US being dragged to fight a war that wasn't theirs to help their allies who were the ones with interest in the region. At least in Vietnam there was the "fight communism" excuse.
Dedicated_idiot@reddit
Holy fuck, you got downvoted. Do French people even know the “deals” that their former colonies had to sign with them before leaving? About how they are stealing from Africa by forcing the use of French banks?
HighOnSSRIs@reddit
>invade other countries
quick NATO air campaign will do it to obliterate Sahel governments, they're not Iran. They're more like Venezuela, with less resources and more guts, and no real national cohesion.
I'm not saying they will do it, but the constant smearing campaign from the West against this historically forgotten nations is getting notorious.
fifthflag@reddit
Hahahaha!!! Good one, tell another one!
Dedicated_idiot@reddit
I was wondering why Burkina Fasa kept featuring in news again and again like a spam recently. I buy this.
Also French people speaking about Mali was eerily reminiscent of how Brits like to speak about India. “Oh they kicked us out. Now they deserve everything they get. Russia will show them how good we were”…it’s almost like West and western people are sick on imperialism 🤷🏻
All_Wasted_Potential@reddit
This sub is just completely anti-west, pro Jihadist, tankie propaganda at this point.
I just wish the tankies would leave western countries for these ones they praise all day.
Naurgul@reddit (OP)
It's not so bad. This post got updated.
Guaire1@reddit
Neither burkina faso nor mali have pro western governments. They are pro russian.
TrizzyG@reddit
Not remotely surprising. These recent warlords obviously weren't welcome by the French and needed to shack up with Wagner & the Russians to help them suppress their populations. I'll give these warlords until 2030 tops before they get deposed.
Gilly8086@reddit
You call them warlords, their people call them heroes! Why do you have a dog in this fight? It’s not like you care about these countries or anything!
sakezaf123@reddit
I mean this is just funny. Trying to both sides mass murderers. The ironic thing is, if these guys weren't russian, but western allies, you'd be calling for their immediate deposition due to all the mass murder of civilians. But Russia's stooges can do whatever, and still enjoy support. I guess I should have figured this out like a decade and a half a go with Syria.
TrizzyG@reddit
The people they're murdering are calling them heroes? Sure dude
Kahzootoh@reddit
It is a little surprising that the military is still causing more deaths, considering that the Islamists have increasingly adopted tactics that target the civilian population- particularly blockades of freight carrying food and attacks on water infrastructure that are designed to create famine and make areas unable to support military forces accustomed to requisitioning local supplies.
The ugliest part is that the likeliest groups to depose the military juntas will be the various Islamist factions fighting from Mali all the way to Niger, as opposed to any sort of liberal movement that wants to see democracy restored.
Islamist victory in any one of the three junta states will likely mean continued repression and killings, especially if the Islamists maintain their loose alliance- if one Sahel junta falls to Islamist rule, you can expect the Islamists who have taken over to invade neighboring countries where junta rule still exists in support of their allies.