France, April 3 -- Burkina Faso's ruling junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, took power in a September 2022 coup.

It has been unable to stem violence waged by jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have caused thousands of deaths over the past decade, the report by NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) shows.

The army relies on the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), made up of civilian volunteers recruited to aid in the fight against jihadists.

The army, the VDP and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims - an Al-Qaeda affiliate known by its Arabic acronym JNIM - have killed "at least 1,837 civilians in 11 regions of the country between January 2023 and August 2025".

The r...