# Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso

An ongoing war and civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of over 2 million people and the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and combatants.
The war has been interpreted as being the Burkinabé theatre of the insurgency in the Sahel.

## Background

Blaise Compaoré, president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014, treated Islamists somewhat better than French colonial officials did. Compaore's Mauritanian advisor, Moustapha Ould Limam Chafi, and General Gilbert Diendéré, both contacted several Islamist leaders in order to free hostages held by these groups.
Burkina Faso acted as a mediator during the Mali War between rebels and the government. Burkina Faso led an intervention into the country in 2013. However, in November 2014, Compaoré was overthrown, marking the end of his rule and creating a scenario of instability.

## Timeline
### 2015–2016

On 23 August 2015, the insurgency in the Maghreb spread to Burkina Faso, beginning with an attack on a gendarmerie by alleged Boko Haram members. Between August 2015 and October 2016, seven different posts were attacked across the country, leaving 15 dead and 11 injured. On 9 October, three gendarmes, one rebel, and one civilian were killed during a battle in Samorogouan [fr], Hauts-Bassins. On 31 May 2016, three police officers were shot dead in Intangom. On 1 September 2016, a team of two to four jihadists murdered a customs officer and a civilian in Markoye, injuring three others. Two days later, Sahrawi terrorist Adnane Abou Walid Al-Sahraoui accepted responsibility for the attack.
On 15 January 2016, terrorists attacked the capital city of Ouagadougou, killing 30 people. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al-Mourabitoune both took responsibility.

### 2017

In 2016, the number of attacks spiked after a new group Ansarul Islam, led by imam Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was founded. The group is particularly active at the border territories of Mali and Burkina Faso. A large proportion of attacks have been focused on Soum province. On 16 December, Ansarul Islam killed dozens of people in the attack on Nassoumbou. On the first of January 2017, an Imam and defect from Asarul Islam was assassinated in Tongomayel. Two months later, a teacher was murdered in the village of Kourfayel
Samorogouan [fr], Soum province. On 22 March, the leader of Ansarul Islam, Harouna Dicko, was shot dead in Pétéga by security forces. By this point, a total of 70 people, the majority of them soldiers, gendarmes and police officers, had been killed in a series of 20 attacks.
Between 27 March – 10 April 2017, the governments of Mali, France, and Burkina Faso launched a joint operation named "Operation Panga", composed of 1,300 soldiers from the three countries, in Fhero forest, near the Burkina Faso-Mali border, considered a sanctuary for Ansarul Islam. On 5 April, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin detonated an improvised explosive device on a French military vehicle, injuring two people. An allied detachment found the militants during a search operation, but the armed Islamist group members attacked again, killing a French soldier. During the ensuing twelve days of searching, two jihadists were killed, eight were taken prisoner, and up to 200 suspects were arrested. The French forces quickly returned to the offensive, with several successful raids against military targets.
On 27 May, in Pétéga, a retired policeman was assassinated by militants. On the night of June 2, at least five people, including a couple and their child, were murdered in targeted attacks across Soum province. On 9 June, military forces rounded up 74 villagers in the town of Djibo accused of collaborating with Ansarul Islam. Several of the villagers were tortured, two fatally. On 12 July, a shootout between government forces and jihadist militants took place, with no casualties.
The head of Ansarul Islam, Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was killed in June 2017. He was succeeded by Jafar Dicko. On the night of July 24, five members of Ansarul Islam were assassinated in the villages of Ndidja, Sibé and Neyba, Soum province, possibly by the new leadership.
On 14 August 2017, a two militants entered a restaurant in Ouagadougou, murdering 18 people before they were shot dead by Burkinabè authorities.
On 17 August, a Burkinabè army vehicle rolled over an explosive in Touronata, killing three people and injuring two more. On 15 September, three men, including an imam and a local village chief, were slain by militants in Soum province. On 23 September, seven soldiers were killed in a mine explosion. Three days later, two gendarmes were killed in an ambush by jihadist militants. On 9 November, the Burkina Faso Armed Forces killed 12 jihadists in the village of Ariel.

### 2018

On 2 March 2018, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked the French embassy in Ouagadougou as well as the general staff of the Burkinabè army. Eight soldiers and eight militants were killed, and a further 61 soldiers and 24 civilians were injured .
In 2018, the insurgency spread to the east of the country. Jihadist militants launched three attacks on 13 June: in Tindangou, against a police checkpoint, and on the police station and gendarmerie brigade of Comin-Yanga. On 12 August, six people were killed by jihadist militants in a bombing in Boungou, near Fada N'Gourma. On the night of August 27, eight Burkinabe soldiers were killed in a bombing likely carried out by jihadist militants Pama. On the night of September 14, Jihadist militants murdered nine people in the villages of Diabiga and Kompiembiga including a religious leader. Rebels kidnapped three employees in a gold mine – an Indian, a South-African and a Burkinabé, killing three Burkinabé gendarmes in the process. On 4 October, six Burkinabé soldiers died after their military convoy ran over an explosive device. That night, an army of forty Islamists launched an attack against local gendarmes in Inata. The following day, six policemen died in a mine bombing near Sollé.
In early October, the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso launched a major military operation in the country's East, with French support. On 3 December, Burkinabé gendarmes repelled an ambush at Bougui, ten kilometres from Fada N'Gourma, killing six militants and injuring another.

### 2019

On 1 January 2019, militants murdered twenty people in the village of Yirgou, Barsalogho department. The villagers, mostly ethnic Mossis suspicious of the Fulani and their ties to militants, massacred the Fulani members of the town in the Yirgou massacre. 72 people were killed and over 6,000 were displaced by the violence.
On 10 January, a group of 36 jihadist militants killed twelve civilians in Gasseliki. 17 days later, ten more civilians were killed in Sikiré, near Arbinda. On 28 January, four Burkinabé soldiers were killed and five others wounded in Nassoumbou. From 3–4 February, jihadist militants were reported to have massacred 14 civilians in Kaïn, 80 kilometres from Ouahigouya. On 4 February, the army killed 146 jihadists in the departments of Kaïn, Banh and Bomborokuy. Human Rights Watch alleged that the military had carried out several summary executions. The Burkinabé Movement for Human and Peoples' Rights reported that even though no evidence was found of an attack carried out by terrorists in Kain on that date, government forces killed about sixty civilians.
On 15 February, the Centre-Est region was for the first time attacked by militants. Four Burkinabés and a Spanish priest were killed at a customs post in Nohao, close to the border with Togo.
According to Human Rights Watch, between mid-2018 to February 2019, at least 42 people were killed by jihadist militants and 116 mostly Fulani civilians were killed by the Burkinabé military. From 31 March to 2 April, ethnic clashes between Fulani, Kurumbas, and Mossis killed 62 people in Arbinda.
In 2019, Jihadist groups began a persecution of Christians. The campaign began on 28 April 2019, when six people, including a pastor, were killed by militants inside a Protestant church in Silgadji. On 12 May, six more people, including one priest, were killed in a Catholic church in Dablo after it was attacked by Islamists. The next day, a Catholic procession was targeted near Kayon and Singa-Rimaïbé, in Zimtanga department. Four civilians were killed and a statue of the Virgin Mary was destroyed.
On the night of 9–10 May, French forces attacked a jihadist encampment near Gorom-Gorom, freeing four hostages — two French, one South-Korean and one American. Four jihadist militants and two French soldiers died.
On 9 June 19 civilians died in an attack on Arbinda. On 18 June, jihadist militants killed 17–18 people in the village of Béléhédé. On 22 June 15 villagers in Sagho and Toekédogo, Barsalogho department, were killed, and on the night of 25–26 July, 22 other villagers were killed in a massacre in Dibilou, near the city of Kaya.
According to the ACLED, armed violence in Burkina Faso increased by 174% in 2019, with nearly 1,300 civilians dead and 860,000 displaced.

### 2020

Part of a series on the :
History of Burkina Faso :
| Bura Bura-Asinda | Prehistoric c. 3rd–13th century |
| Mossi Kingdoms | c. 11th century – 1896 |
| Kong Empire | c. 1710 – 1898 |
| French Upper Volta | 1919–1932 1947–1958 |
| Republic | 1958–1984 |
Burkina Faso (1984–present) :
| Agacher Strip War | 1985 |
| Assassination of Sankara | 1987 |
| Compaoré rule | 1987–2014 |
| Burkinabè revolution | 2014 |
| Transitional period | 2014–2015 |
| Jihadist insurgency | 2015–present |
| Burkinabé coup d'état | 2015 |
| 2015 elections and aftermath | 2015–2022 |
| January and September coup d'état | 2022 |
vte :
On 4 January 2020, a bus carrying middle school students blew up after it ran over an explosive device between Toéni and Tougan, resulting in fourteen deaths. On 20 January, jihadist militants attacked the villages of Nagraogo and Alamou, in Barsalogho, Sanmatenga, and massacred 36 civilians. The next day, the Parliament of Burkina Faso passed a law permitting the recruitment of civilian militias called Koglweogo to combat the growing insurgency. The idea was initially proposed by president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in November 2019.
On 25 January, the village of Silgadji was attacked again by militants, killing 39 civilians. Three days later, six Burkinabé soldiers were killed between Madjoari and Pama, in Kompienga province. On 12 February, two civilians were killed by jihadist militants in Tanwalbougou.
On 16 February, a Protestant church in Pansi was attacked by jihadist militants, who killed 24 people (including the pastor) and wounded 20 more. This was a week before five people (also including a pastor) were killed in a church in the neighbouring town of Sebba.
On 29 February, Sebba was attacked again, leaving ten policemen dead.
On 8 March, the Fulani villages of Barga-Peulh and Dinguila-Peulh, Barga department, were raided by pro-government militias, whose members killed 43 civilians.
The Fada N’Gourma shooting occurred on 7 August 2020. At least 20 people were killed when an unidentified gunmen attacked a cattle market in Fada N’Gourma, Gourma Province, Est Region, Burkina Faso.
In October, around fifty refugees tried to return to their home region. Their convoy was ambushed in the middle of the night, ten kilometers from Pissila. 25 male refugees, approximately half of the convoy, were killed by jihadist militants. All women and children were spared.

### 2021

From 4–5 June, unknown militants massacred over 170 people in the villages of Solhan and Tadaryat.
On 20 August, jihadist militants killed 80 people in Gorgadji, including 59 civilians.
November became one of the year's bloodiest months for Burkina Faso. On 14 November, the Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked the gendarmerie in Inata, killing 53 people, including four civilians. The attack, which remains the greatest loss suffered by the Burkinabe military during the insurgency so far, was a major blow to government morale. On 21 November, an attack in Foubé resulted in nine Burkinabé soldiers and ten civilians killed.
In December, a group of civilians stopped a French convoy in Kaya Department, alleging that France was secretly working with the jihadists. In a separate incident during that month, Islamists killed 41 people in an ambush, including the popular vigilante leader Ladji Yoro. Yoro was a central figure in the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, or VDP for short, a pro-government militia that has taken a leading role in the country's struggle against Islamists.

### 2022

On 15 January, at least 10 civilians were killed in an attack blamed on jihadist militants in northern Burkina Faso, in the village of Namssiguian in Bam province.
Operation Laabingol 1 took place in the north of the country, from 16 January to 23 January, 2022. 163 jihadists were killed, injured, or captured in the operations, including 60 in collaboration with French forces in the country, according to the French and Burkinabe militaries. The Burkinabe government claimed to have killed the leader of jihadists operating in the Kelbo area. The Burkinabe military claimed to have lost one soldier, and two wounded in the operation, and captured many weapons, including improvised explosive devices.
On 23 January, military officials overthrew Kabore's ruling government. Government failures to quell the Islamist insurgency were described as the main cause of the coup, which was met with public enthusiasm. The junta's leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, is well-known for his widely popular military operations against Islamists. Damiba replaced government ministers (such as Gilbert Noël Ouédraogo) perceived to have handled the insurgency poorly with more popular figures.
Allegations were raised that in the aftermath of the coup the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration may hire mercenaries from the Wagner Group in the future. Damiba had called earlier to hire Russian mercenaries against the Islamists, but was forbidden to do so by Kabore.
On 27 January, France confirmed that from 15 to 23 January 2022, more than sixty recorded jihadists had been killed in four separate incidents by Burkinabé soldiers working together with French units.
Ten militants of Ansarul Islam were killed during a battle with French forces on 10 February near Ouahigouya after the killing of five officers in the previous year. Four civilians died in the crossfire. French authorities expressed regret for the civilian casualties, which they claimed were accidental.
On 8–9 February, insurgents attacked the W National Park in Benin, killing nine people. On 12 February, French forces retaliated by launching a major airstrike on an Islamist camp in Burkina Faso, killing forty rebels. On 11 May 2022, militants crossed the border into Togo and killed eight soldiers.
On 9 June, several attacks took place across the country. A civilian and a soldier were killed at the Karma gold mine in Yatenga Province along with 3 to 4 government soldiers injured. In Seytenga Department, Séno Province, 11 military police were killed when their command post came under attack by militants. In Kossi Province, 4 military police were killed in an attack.
Over the weekend of 12–13 June, between 100 and 165 people were killed in Seytenga Department, Séno Province. The attackers appear to have targeted men, and around 3,000 people fled their homes after the attack. The UNHCR reported on 17 June that around 16,000 people had fled the area since the attack and called for urgent support for the IDPs. On 12 June, at least six people were killed in Alga, Bam Province.
On 15 June, 7 members of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland were reported to have been killed by militants in Bouroum, Namentenga Province.
On 18 June, the ECOWAS mediator to Burkina Faso, Mahamadou Issoufou, stated that the Government of Burkina Faso controls 60% the country.
On 22 June, the Government announced the creation of "military zones". Populations in these designated areas have to leave their homes and lands in order to allow the country's Armed and Security Forces to fight the armed insurgents without any "hindrances".
On 25 June, the Army of Burkina Faso presented a 2-week deadline for populations in the so-called "military zones" to abandon their homes and move to safer zones.
On the night 3–4 July, fourteen churchgoers were killed by militants at the Cathedral of Nouna.
On August 8, five civilians and five armed volunteers were killed by unidentified assailants.
On August 9, fifteen Burkinabé soldiers were killed in a double-tap bomb attack.
On August 14, the Collective against Impunity and the Stigmatization of Communities (CISC), a Burkinabe NGO, denounced the massacre of at least 40 civilians allegedly perpetrated by Burkinabe soldiers on August 8. The massacre is said to have occurred in Tougouri Department.
On September 5, at least 35 civilians were killed and 37 wounded following a suspected jihadist attack when a vehicle in an escorted supply convoy, heading to Ouagadougou, was struck by a improvised explosive device (IED) on the main road, between the northern towns of Djibo and Bourzanga, in the north of Burkina Faso.
On September 26, eleven soldiers were killed and 50 civilians were missing following a suspected jihadist attack in the northern town of Djibo in the Gaskinde area of Soum Province of Burkina Faso. The attack also left 28 wounded, including 20 soldiers, 1 Volunteer for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) and 7 civilians.
On September 30, a second military coup within a year occurred, with the military removing Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, citing his "inability to deal with an Islamist insurgency". The new leader Col Ibrahim Traoré, who led an anti-jihadist unit in the north of Burkina Faso called Cobra, claimed Damiba was being protected by the French army, which resulted in violent protests by citizens outside the French embassy. Traoré expects Damiba of plotting a counter-attack, which will push the country into civil war. Gunshots were heard in Burkina Faso's capital city Ouagadougou and helicopters had circled overhead.
On October 2, religious and community leaders announced that Damiba had agreed to resign from his position after they mediated between him and Traoré. Damiba reportedly demanded seven guarantees in return, including that his allies would be protected, a guarantee for his security and rights, and that the new junta would fulfill the promise he made to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) about restoring civilian rule in two years.
On November 9, 2022 the 14th Inter-Arms Regiment of Djibo fired artillery into the village of Holdé, Yaté, Ména, and Dabere-Pogowel. The Shells were fired from a military outpost 10 km from the villages. Many civilians were killed including women and a seven-month-old baby, the civilians mainly belonged to the Fulani ethnic minority which has long been suspected of supporting Jihadists. In total at least 50 civilians were killed in the massacre.
On 30–31 December, at least 28 Fula men were massacred in the town of Nouna, in an attack blamed on the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP).

### 2023

44 civilians were killed by jihadists from 6–7 April in Kourakou and Tondobi, Séno Province.
Insurgents attacked a military detachment and VDP force in Aoréma [fr], Ouahigouya Department on 15 April. Authorities reported that 6 soldiers and 34 VDP militias had been killed, but other sources suggested that the death toll could be as high as 75.
On 20 April, possibly in response to the attack in Aoréma, the Rapid Intervention Brigade committed the Karma massacre, one of the most appalling crimes committed during the conflict. Witnesses described how residents had cheered on the advance of hundreds of soldiers into Karma, a Mossi-majority village with a population of around 400 people. Despite the fact the village was pro-Traoré, soldiers rounded up civilians en masse and had shot them. Soldiers killed civilians in their own homes and burned houses to the ground while the residents were still inside. Women, children, elderly people and babies were said to be among the dead. While officials said that at least sixty people had been killed, witnesses claimed the number of dead was around 200.
On 5 September, dozens were killed in clashes in Yatenga Province.
On 5 November, a massacre was carried out in the village of Zaongo by an unknown group. It was reported that at least 70 people were killed, mostly children and elderly. The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issued a condemnation and said that the death toll was over 100.
On 18 November, near-simultaneous attacks took place in Diapaga, killing 15 people.
On 26 November, allegedly about 3,000 jihadists affiliated with JNIM launched a major assault on Djibo, resulting in at least 40 civilian deaths. 400 jihadists allegedly died (per-Burkina Faso) in a counter-offensive, along with several Burkinabe soldiers.

### 2024

On 25 January, it was reported that Russia had sent around 100 troops, with 200 more expected to arrive, to help train the Burkina Faso Army and patrol dangerous areas. In a state visit in June, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the number of military instructors would increase in the future.
On 25 February at least 15 people were killed by the Islamic State in an attack on a Catholic Church in the village of Essakane in Oudalan Province. Dozens of civilians were killed during an attack on a mosque in Natiaboani. Members of the auxiliary VDP were also targeted. Burkina Faso's army summarily executed 223 civilians. Massacres occurred in Nondin and Soro villages.
On 3 March, a recent attack on three villages led to the killing of 170 people by the militants.
On 31 March, JNIM attacked Burkinabe forces in Tawori, Tapoa Province. At least 41 Burkinabe soldiers and 32 civilians were killed during the attack and the subsequent massacre.
On 11 June, JNIM attacked a military base and captured it killing 107 soldiers and taking another seven prisoner.
On 25 August, JNIM again launched a major attack on people digging trenches for the fortification of security outposts in the region of Barsalogho. At least 600 people were killed and 300 people were injured in the attack.

### 2025

On February 10, at least 73 terrorists were neutralized by the Burkinabe army in the Sourou province, in the west of the country.

## Humanitarian situation

A humanitarian crisis has erupted in the aftermath of the conflict, with thousands of people killed by both sides. The UNHCR estimates that six in ten displaced people in the Sahel are from Burkina Faso.
Government forces have summarily executed a very large number of civilians, disproportionately targeting ethnic Fulani. In October 2019, 14 men had their turbans ripped off by government forces, then forced into a truck and executed. Fulanis have also been subject to violence by pro-government civilians, such as during the 2019 Yirgou massacre, in which hundreds of civilians were murdered by ethnic Mossis.
In 2020, a mass grave of over 180 civilians was found near Djibo, killed by government forces. Summary executions and war crimes by the military have become an ordinary incident in the town. In one separate incident, 10 civilians were killed in a market place in Petagoli, three of them Dogon foreigners from Mali.
Jihadists have also been guilty of human rights abuses. Islamists have also targeted schools, the most famous example happening on 12 November 2018, when six Islamists broke into a primary school, mugged the principal, and attacked several students. This was one of the few local cases in which the people responsible for such an attack were arrested. Rebels have justified attacks on schools by painting them as French and Western-style indoctrination programs. Numerous schools have been shut down, leading to an estimated 300,000 children without access to education. Villagers have been terrorized during their everyday lives, often prohibited from holding baptisms or marriages; the assassination of local elders has become a common occurrence. From April 2019 to January 2020, Human Rights Watch recorded the killing of at least 256 civilians in a series of 20 different attacks.