Burkina Faso army, militias killed 130 members of ethnic group, HRW says
At least 130 civilians belonging to the Fulani ethnic group were killed by Burkina Faso's army and allied militias near the western town of Solenzo in March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
The killings took place amid a major weeks-long military campaign by special forces that resulted in 'widespread civilian deaths and massive displacement' of the Fulani pastoralist community in the region, the rights group said in a report on Monday.
It added that an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group called the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) then carried out a series of retaliatory attacks, hitting villages that the armed group perceived as having assisted the military.
Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW, said in a statement the 'the viral videos of the atrocities by pro-government militias near Solenzo' that cirinitially circulated 'told only part of the story'.
'Further research uncovered that Burkina Faso's military was responsible for these mass killings of Fulani civilians, which were followed by deadly reprisals by an Islamist armed group,' Allegrozzi added.
'The government needs to impartially investigate these deaths and prosecute all those responsible.'
HRW had reported in March that the government's involvement was likely due to video evidence online.
At that time, the government strongly denied the allegations, saying in a statement it 'condemned the propagation, on social media, of images inducing hate and community violence, and fake information aimed at undermining social cohesion' in the West African country.
Burkina Faso's government and army did not immediately react to Monday's report, which alleged that the Burkinabe army 'led and participated in the massacre of more than 130, possibly many more, ethnic Fulani civilians by pro-government militias'.The rights organisation's report is based on interviews with witnesses to the attacks, militia members, journalists and civil society members.
Witnesses quoted by HRW said hundreds of government troops and drones, as well as a pro-government militia called the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), were involved in attacks on Solenzo and other towns in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region.
The witnesses said most of the victims in Banwa province were women, children and older people.
Military helicopters and drones surveilled the area, 'indicating direct command control of the operation', HRW said.
A 44-year-old Fulani herder, who lost eight family members, told HRW that thousands of families from more than 20 villages were forced to flee to neighbouring Mali in search of protection.
'However, we couldn't reach Mali without crossing villages [that were] occupied by the VDPs and the army. The VDPs shot at us like animals, while drones were flying over our heads. Many women and children died because they could not run,' he said.
Military rulers took power in Burkina Faso in 2022, but they have largely failed to provide the stability promised, as more than 60 percent of the country is estimated to be outside government control.
The military has also turned to mass recruitment of civilians who are deployed in poorly trained militia units, leading to worsening tensions between ethnic groups.
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Fox News
31 minutes ago
- Fox News
Bold move to keep Americans safe from ‘terrorists' is basis for US travel ban for some African nations
President Donald Trump's restrictions on travel from 10 African countries are being praised by analysts for improving U.S. security internationally and domestically. The president said on X the travel ban was being introduced after a terror attack against a pro-Israel group advocating for Hamas to release Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, last weekend, allegedly by an Egyptian man who had overstayed his visa. In a White House fact sheet, Trump said, "We will restore the travel ban, some people call it the Trump travel ban, and keep the radical Islamic terrorists out of our country." This point was backed by the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, Tommy Pigott. In a briefing Thursday, Pigott said, "This is a national security imperative". But observers believe there is an external, international reason. "Most, if not all, of the African countries were added to this list either because of extreme instability and thus terrorist havens or because relations between them and the U.S. is either extremely poor or non-existent," Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD's Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital. "For instance, the U.S. has been historically hard on Eritrea for its human rights abuses and also alleged support for terrorism. While in Chad, its military regime kicked the U.S. military out of its territory last year, further hurting the U.S. military posture in Africa." Some of the restricted African countries listed below pose significant potential security concerns for the U.S. The world's two principal Islamist terror groups, ISIS and al Qaeda, represented here by Al-Shabaab, both operate openly in Somalia. The White House described it this week as "a terrorist safe haven." A briefing note accompanying the travel ban declared, "A persistent terrorist threat emanates from Somalia's territory. Somalia also remains a destination for individuals attempting to join terrorist groups that threaten the national security of the United States." The U.S. Africa Command mounted five air attacks against operators from both groups in just the 12 days up to June 2. Fighting and subsequent piles of bodies in the streets have been reported in the past month in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The U.N.'s Support Mission in Libya recently posted on X that the situation could "spiral out of control." "The historical terrorist presence within Libya's territory amplifies the risks posed by the entry into the United States of its nationals," the White House note states, adding U.S. border officials can't properly vet Libyans because "there is no competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents in Libya." 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Banning nationals this week, the U.S. said Chad has had a visa overstay rate of up to 55%. In Chad, President Deby responded by saying, "I have instructed the government to act in accordance with the principles of reciprocity and suspend the issuance of visas to U.S. citizens." People from this West African country have reportedly overstayed their F, M and J visas by up to 70%. Depending on the visa category, up to 35% of citizens in the U.S. are reported to have overstayed their visas. Overstaying is the main issue for the other African countries whose nationals are partially restricted and now have only limited entry into the U.S. Has an overstay rate of up to 35%, and, the White House says, "has historically failed to accept back its removable nationals." Togo suffers from poor governance, nepotism and widespread corruption, which reportedly goes all the way to the president's office. Over 50% of the population lives below what's regarded as the international poverty line. Togo's nationals have an overstay rate of up to 35% in the U.S. Burundi vies with South Sudan for the dubious title of poorest country in the world. Yet soaring inflation has caused a devastating rise in food prices. A former rebel group has led the country for two decades in an climate of political unrest and alleged repression. Burundi's citizens have an overstay rate of up to 17% in the U.S.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Desperate to get its illegally detained civilians out of Russia, Kyiv offers Ukrainian collaborators in exchange
Ukraine sent dozens of its own citizens to Russia last month, releasing them from prisons in an attempt to secure the release of dozens of Ukrainian civilians held illegally in Russian jails – a move described by human rights activists as desperate and worrying. According to the Ukrainian government, 70 Ukrainian civilians convicted of collaborating with Russia were released as part of the 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow last month. Ukraine said all of them went into exile voluntarily, as part of a government scheme that gives anyone convicted of collaborating with Russia the option of being sent there. But human rights groups and international lawyers say the scheme is problematic, contradicts previous statements made by the Ukrainian government, and could potentially put more people at risk of being snatched by the Russians. 'I completely understand the sentiment, we all want the people (who are detained in Russia) to be released as quickly as possible and Russia has no will to do that… but the solution that is offered is definitely not the right one,' said Onysiia Syniuk, a legal analyst at Zmina, a Ukrainian human rights group. The program, called 'I want to go to my own,' was launched last year by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Ministry of Defense, the Security Service and the parliament's Commissioner for Human Rights. A government website outlining the program includes photos and personal information of some of the 300 Ukrainian people that the government says have signed up to the program. The profiles of 31 of them are stamped with a picture of a suitcase and the words 'HAS LEFT,' with a note saying he or she 'left for Russia while at the same time real Ukrainians returned home.' According to Kyiv, at least 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are known to be detained in Russia, although the real number is likely to be much higher. Some 37,000 Ukrainians, including civilians, children and members of the military, are officially recognized as missing. Many have been detained in occupied territories, detained for months or even years without any charges or trial, and deported to Russia. They include activists, journalists, priests, politicians and community leaders as well as people who appear to have been snatched by Russian troops at random at checkpoints and other places in occupied Ukraine. The detention of civilians by an occupying power is illegal under international laws of conflict, except for in a few narrowly defined situations and with strict time limits. Because of that, there is no established legal framework for the treatment and exchange of civilian detainees in the same way there is for prisoners of war. Russia has, in some cases, claimed that the Ukrainian civilians it is holding are prisoners of war and should be recognized as such by Ukraine. Kyiv has been reluctant to do so because it could put civilians living in occupied areas of Ukraine at risk of being arbitrarily detained by Russia as it seeks to grow its pool for future exchanges. Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets told CNN last year that Kyiv believes Russia has been taking Ukrainians hostage to use them as bargaining chips, and that he rejected the idea of exchanging civilians as part of a prisoner swap. Kyiv has rallied its allies to increase pressure on Russia over the issue and tried to get Moscow to agree to release the detained civilians through third countries, similar to the way some Ukrainian children have been returned with the help of Qatar, South Africa and the Vatican. Several international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), have also repeatedly called on Moscow to unconditionally release its civilian detainees. Russia has ignored the pleas. The 'I want to go to my own' program is an attempt by Kyiv to get some of the detained civilians back without having to recognize them as prisoners of war. But human rights groups are urging the Ukrainian government to continue to press for unconditional release of civilians. 'Under international humanitarian law, it is not possible to talk about exchanging civilians. All civilians unlawfully detained must be released unconditionally,' said Yulia Gorbunova, a senior researcher on Ukraine at Human Rights Watch (HRW). 'But in practice, things are a lot more difficult because Russia is not playing by the rules. For Ukrainian civilians, to be included on an exchange list is their main hope. I think the scheme is an attempt to find a way to do this,' she told CNN. Announcing the 1,000 for 1,000 exchange, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted as much. 'I would like to thank our law enforcement officers today for adding Russian saboteurs and collaborators to the exchange fund,' the president said, while also thanking Ukrainian soldiers for capturing Russian troops on the front lines. But it seems that the scheme did not yield the results Kyiv was hoping for. Petro Yatsenko from the Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War told CNN Ukraine did not know ahead of the time who was being returned. The headquarters said the returnees included a group of at least 60 Ukrainian civilians who were convicted of criminal offenses unrelated to the war. 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While the initiative's website includes what it says are handwritten notes from each of the convicted collaborators indicating their wish to leave for Russia, human rights organizations say the way in which they have been disowned by their country is ethically dubious. Syniuk told CNN: 'These people are still Ukrainian citizens, and the wording that they have on the website is that they were exchanged for 'real Ukrainians'– that is very … not okay.' CNN's Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova contributed reporting.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
A powerful, opaque al-Qaeda affiliate is rampaging across West Africa
TUMU, Ghana — In the space of just a few months, the al-Qaeda affiliate has overrun major cities in Burkina Faso and Mali, carried out the deadliest-ever attack on soldiers in Benin and expanded its hard-line Islamist rule across the region. No one knows when its fighters will strike next — or where they plan to stop. After years spent quietly gaining strength, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is now the most well-armed militant force in West Africa and among the most powerful in the world, according to regional and Western officials, with as many as 6,000 fighters under its command. Local strategies employed to combat JNIM are accelerating its rise, officials and experts say, as atrocities by West African forces have allowed the group to claim the moral high ground and legitimize its growing authority. The United States has largely pulled back from — or been pushed out — of the fight, leaving in its wake a deepening security vacuum and mounting anxiety over JNIM's aims and capabilities. 'They're creating a proto-state that stretches like a belt from western Mali all the way to the borderlands of Benin. … It is a substantial — even exponential — expansion,' said Héni Nsaibia, West Africa senior analyst for the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, or ACLED, a nonprofit research group. JNIM, along with the rival Islamic State-Sahel Province, has turned the region into an epicenter of Islamist insurgency. The Institute for Economics & Peace's annual index last year found 51 percent of terrorism deaths worldwide were in the Sahel, a vast, tumultuous region south of the Sahara that spans the breadth of Africa. The chaos ravaging the region has helped military officers seize power in coups — vowing to break with the West and restore calm. But in most countries the security situation has only gotten worse. In 2024, Burkina Faso ranked as the nation most affected by terrorist violence for a second straight year, and Niger saw the largest increase in terrorism-related deaths globally. In a sign of JNIM's southward spread, Togo reported the most terrorist attacks it its history; Benin has reported nearly as many deaths in the first three months of this year than in all of 2024. Increasingly, experts say, JNIM's informant and supply chain networks are stretching into stable nations such as Ghana, Senegal and Guinea. Governments fear their fighters could soon follow. The Washington Post interviewed experts and officials in five countries to shed light on why the group is growing so fast — and what its end game might be. Reporters also traveled to the porous borderlands between Burkina Faso and Ghana, where tens of thousands have fled violence by JNIM and government forces, to speak to refugees about life under militant rule. They recounted how gun-toting JNIM members burst into mosques in Burkina Faso in recent years, announcing that strict Islamic laws would be implemented, schools would be closed and state institutions would be targeted. Violating the rules, the extremists made clear, would carry a price. Nearly 6,000 civilians have been killed by the group in the past five years, according to ACLED data. Refugees said that initially, they rejected the group outright. But their anger was redirected by the government's response: a militia-led wave of killing targeting the Fulanis, a semi-nomadic, predominantly Muslim ethnic minority spread out across West Africa. Skeptical locals became eager recruits. 'They were afraid, and they ran to them,' said Amadou Diallo, a 69-year-old Burkinabe refugee, describing his three daughters and their husbands who joined JNIM after militia members killed scores of their fellow Fulani. As the threat grows across West Africa, the region has largely fallen off the radar in Washington, according to interviews with four current and former U.S. officials. Like other officials in this story, they spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details. American drones once flown from Niger — where U.S. troops were forced out last year by the country's military junta — have been moved out of West Africa, according to two former U.S. officials with knowledge of the situation. They added that plans to relocate the drones to Ivory Coast and Benin have been scrapped. There are now fewer than 200 troops in the region, mostly stationed in countries along the coast — down from about 1,400 as recently as 2023 — according to current and former officials. U.S. Africa Command (Africom) declined to comment for this story. A spokesperson pointed to recent remarks by Gen. Michael E. Langley, the head of Africom, who emphasized that the U.S. was focused on helping African nations build the 'self-reliance' to fight terrorism. But the vast majority of programs run through the Global Fragility Act — a multiyear initiative intended to bolster stability in vulnerable West African countries — have been shut down by the Trump administration. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. 'JNIM is ascendant,' one of the former U.S. officials said. 'In a region where we used to monitor what was happening, we no longer have the tools.' JNIM, founded in Mali in 2017 as an umbrella organization combining four Islamist extremist groups, is headed by Iyad ag Ghali and Amadou Koufa, leaders of a 2012 uprising that saw separatists and Islamists take over much of the country's north. Ag Ghali belongs to the mostly Muslim Tuareg ethnic group, which has fought for decades to establish an independent state in northern Mali. Koufa is a Fulani preacher based in central Mali. The differences between the two men have given the group broad appeal — and contributed to uncertainty about its goals. The group operates on a 'franchise' model, experts say, tailoring its strategies to local customs and its recruiting to local grievances. But wherever its fighters go, they enforce a strict Salafist version of Islamic law. Ali Diallo, a 53-year-old herder from Burkina Faso's Boucle du Mouhoun region, was washing himself before prayers at his local mosque in 2023 when a group of bearded men wearing turbans forced him and other men inside and locked the door. 'I thought we were going to die,' Ali Diallo said, recalling that the men wore machine guns across their chests. 'But two men stood where the imam usually stood and started preaching. They said their fight was with the government and their goal was to spread Islam, not to kill us.' Shortly afterward, the extremists closed his children's school. 'We were angry,' said Asseta Diallo, his 19-year-old daughter. 'We just started sitting at home.' Strict dress codes were enforced in the community, with veils required for women and short pants for men. Naming and wedding ceremonies were banned. Loud music too. In its strongholds in central and southern Mali, experts say, the group has made agreements with communities that compel residents to adhere to JNIM's rules and pay zakat, or taxes, in exchange for not being attacked. In recent months, these local pacts have allowed JNIM to shift its focus, and move its manpower, to neighboring Burkina Faso and coastal nations such as Benin. 'These guys are smart, sophisticated and evolving,' said Corinne Dufka, a veteran Sahel analyst based in Washington. 'And now, there is a model for mainstreaming their political evolution.' Some of JNIM's senior figures, Dufka said, are looking to Ahmed al-Sharaa — the Syrian leader who has recast himself as a moderate after once being associated with al-Qaeda — as a potential model for their own trajectory. When Sharaa's rebel group overthrew the Assad regime last year, JNIM issued a statement of congratulations. And when Koufa was interviewed by a French journalist in October, he did not mention al-Qaeda, prompting speculation about a possible break with the group. Western and West African officials and experts estimate JNIM has between 5,000 and 6,000 combatants but say a lack of intelligence makes it difficult to arrive at a definitive figure. Fighters have long targeted symbols of foreign influence in the region, including attacks against French and U.N. forces, and more recently have threatened Russian mercenaries fighting alongside Malian troops. Aneliese Bernard, a former State Department adviser who now runs a private security firm working in West Africa, said the group has metastasized to such an extent that it now 'directly impacts [U.S.] national security.' And, she added, 'they are expanding undeterred into the countries we have long considered robust security partners.' Military officers have staged coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in response to the growing violence, promising an all-out war against the extremists. In Burkina Faso, President Ibrahim Traoré's strategy has hinged on arming more than 50,000 militia members, who have committed scores of atrocities, rights groups say. Each attack has become a recruiting opportunity for JNIM. In March, in the town of Solenzo, Burkina Faso, government militias killed dozens of mostly Fulani civilians and filmed the aftermath, according to rights groups. Videos shared by the perpetrators on social media showed the dead, including women and children, piled into trucks. In the days after the attack, JNIM released videos condemning the government. 'These miscreants want us to fight back and kill innocent women and kids … which will lead to a civil war,' said one JNIM leader in another video. 'Yet our fight is not to defend a country or an ethnicity, but religion instead.' The videos were part a wider propaganda blitz by the group during Ramadan in March. Fighters in brightly colored headscarves were filmed in action at training camps, or reading from the Quran, guns propped in front of them. Since 2019, the group has killed more than 5,800 civilians in the region, according to ACLED; about 9,600 civilians have been killed by regional militaries and government-allied militias. In areas where JNIM has achieved strong control, violent attacks against civilians tend to decline, analysts say When Amadou Diallo, the 69-year-old Burkinabe refugee, learned that his daughters and their husbands had joined JNIM, he said he was so distraught that he stopped sleeping. But then, he said, he thought of his three cousins who had been killed by government militias. Village elders had told Fulani residents to leave, that they could no longer protect them. 'The alternative was death,' he said. 'At least now I hope they are safe.' Long-haul truck driver Yakubu Janwi travels across the region, a dangerous job that gives him a window into JNIM's expanding influence. The group controls many of the major roads in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, he said; truck owners have cut deals with the militants to ensure drivers are not stopped. During one dispute over payment, he said, JNIM members seized his truck full of tea and left him wandering in the bush. He was rescued by another driver about 24 hours later, he said, but it took his boss a full year to get the vehicle back. The trucking agreements are just one strand in a complex web of illicit commerce that JNIM uses to finance its insurgency. Members are involved in gold mining in Burkina Faso and Mali, according to experts and a former member of the group. Others engineer massive cattle-rustling schemes, including in Ghana, run kidnapping networks or are involved in smuggling drugs and motorcycles. Analysts say an increasingly large share of JNIM's funding comes from the taxes levied on communities in Mali and Burkina Faso. Solidifying its base of operations has allowed the group to devote more resources to attacks in Benin, said Andrew Lebovich, a research fellow with the Clingendael Institute. An ambush last month in the far north of the country killed 54 soldiers, the military said. Soldiers were caught off guard, according to a Benin military official: 'It is hard to track their movement,' the official said. JNIM is now actively recruiting in Benin, according to the official and experts. In the country's far north, recruiters now openly present themselves to local leaders, as they did when they first moved into parts of Burkina Faso and Mali. The group's weapons come largely from the government forces it has defeated, according to a recent report by Conflict Armament Research. There have been so many of those defeats that JNIM has been able to amass a formidable arsenal of machine guns, drones and antiaircraft weaponry — and has demonstrated it can deploy them to deadly effect. Last month, JNIM took control of Djibo, a regional capital in northern Burkina Faso — killing scores of soldiers and civilians and holding the city from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fighters posed for pictures on the streets and in government offices, including under a photo of Traoré, and vowed they were coming for the young president. At a recent U.S.-led military training in Tamale, in northern Ghana — a stand-alone Africom exercise spared from the Trump administration's regional cuts — soldiers from Ghana, Benin and Ivory Coast said the images from Djibo circulated in their WhatsApp groups. JNIM is now top of mind across the region. 'They're more violent, more organized and have more means,' said a military official from Ivory Coast. 'They wanted to spread Islam at first, but now it seems like they want to get all the way to the sea.' That theory was echoed by a U.S. official, who said the group sees its expansion as a kind of 'manifest destiny,' and appears to be pushing for a route to the Atlantic, which would dramatically increase the reach of its smuggling networks. Ghana, a nation of 33 million still seen as a bright spot of stability and democracy in West Africa, has not been attacked yet by JNIM. But officials from neighboring countries have told their Ghanaian counterparts to be on guard. Already, regional officials and experts said, JNIM is using Ghana to restock its supplies and rest its fighters after assaults in Burkina Faso. Along the countries' shared border, which is marked by narrow, sandy footpaths and potholed roads, a group of Ghanaian immigration officers are doing their best to patrol but said they need more resources. Sixteen officers are tasked with guarding the 10-mile border. They can often hear the echo of gunshots on the other side. 'Burkinabes cross every day, and they tell us what is happening there,' said Gabriel Afful, one of the officers. Was he nervous about the future? Afful simply nodded. Blanco Ramos reported from Madrid. Ayamga Bawa Fatawu and Ahmed Jeeri contributed to this report.
