Attachments
CRISIS IMPACT OVERVIEW
Violence has been rapidly increasing in Centre-Nord region of Burkina Faso since early 2024. During the first four months of the year, attacks by the al-Qaeda-affiliated group Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) killed nearly 200 people in Namentenga and Sanmatenga provinces surrounding Kaya city in the region. Between May and the end of August, JNIM killed at least 420 people, a significant increase compared to the first four months of the year (ISW 29/08/2024). In April, JNIM fighters on motorcycles killed 17 civilians in the village of Dofinega in Centre-Nord region (ADF 02/04/2024).
JNIM has claimed responsibility for a 24 August attack that killed at least 200 people and injured 140 in Burkinabe town of Barsalogho, Centre-Nord region, where civilian volunteers were digging a trench for the military (AJ 26/08/2024; OHCHR 30/08/2024; RFI 02/09/2024). Although official sources have not confirmed the official death toll, there are reports that the fatalities totalled 300–400 by 30 August (La Croix 30/08/2024; Bellingcat 04/09/2024; Reuters 31/08/2024). By 4 September, the Government had not yet confirmed the precise number of casualties and injuries (Bellingcat 04/09/2024). This is the largest attack on civilians in Burkina Faso since the crisis started in 2015, when a failed coup attempt and the election of a new president in December resulted in a sequence of attacks across the country (La Croix 30/08/2024; CooperaSalud 2023).
Between 1 January and 9 September 2024, armed attacks killed nearly 2,000 civilians across the country, with JNIM being responsible for roughly 80%. This is an increase compared to the same period in 2023, which saw close to 1,700 civilian fatalities (ACLED accessed 09/09/2024; ACLED 05/07/2024). The deadliest month was February, with over 570 deaths countrywide. In a single incident on 25 February, the military killed 223 civilians, including 56 children, in Nondin and Soro villages in Nord region. Mass killings of this nature are likely to be a part of a military operation targeting civilians accused of collaborating with JNIM (ACLED accessed 06/09/2024; HRW 25/04/2024).
By 30 June, nearly 1.1 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance in Centre-Nord region, out of 6.3 million people across the country (UNICEF 17/07/2024; OCHA accessed 16/09/2024).