Burkina Faso: Fulani in the Crosshairs of Massacres and Reprisals

Translated by Beatrice Cherubini

According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, 130 Fulani civilians were massacred in March by pro-government militias in the Boucle du Mouhoun region. The number of victims is approximate: the actual figure could be much higher.

Human Rights Watch has been monitoring the human rights situation in Burkina Faso for several months now. Last month, in April, it interviewed some witnesses to the attacks, as well as journalists, and reviewed a few key videos to obtain as comprehensive a picture as possible of the country’s critical situation.

What is the situation in Burkina Faso?

The crisis in Burkina Faso is a largely forgotten one: about 40% of the country is under the control of groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The control exercised by jihadist groups is therefore not exclusive: pro-government militias are also present.

In 2022, two coups d’état took place, symptomatic of a severe political crisis. In January 2022, President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was overthrown by the military and, in September of the same year, the leader who replaced him was also ousted by another military faction, which brought Ibrahim Traoré — who currently leads the country — to power.

It is Captain Traoré himself who continues to justify the ongoing violence in the country, presenting it as a war against terrorism, yet without acknowledging its ethnic nature.

International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians, summary executions, looting, and abuses. This applies to all parties involved in the country’s conflict, from pro-government militias to jihadist factions. 

Who are the Fulani, and why has the government targeted them?

The Fulani are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. Primarily herders and nomads, they have repeatedly been accused by pro-government militias of cooperating with factions affiliated with the Islamic State, leading to massacres.

Some Fulani have indeed been recruited by jihadist factions, which have focused much of their efforts on enlisting members of this ethnic group.

However, most of them have no ties to armed groups. So, at the root of these attacks lies an ethnic bias that considers this community an integral part of jihadism. This serves as an ideological justification for the violence that continues relentlessly in the country.

The massacres took place in the context of Operation “Green Whirlwind 2”, a campaign led by Burkinabè special forces (Burkina Faso's government forces), launched on February 27, 2025. The Fulani are victims of abuse from two fronts: on one side, the army and pro-government militias; on the other, Islamist armed groups that target those who refuse to cooperate or are suspected of aiding the government.

What worsens all this violence is the presence of self-defense militias, such as the Koglweogo and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), often armed and supported by the military government itself. These groups, originally formed as local defense against jihadists, have become tools of ethnic repression, operating with very little supervision.

This could be described as a silent ethnic cleansing: villages entirely inhabited by Fulani have been emptied, and the survivors have fled to internal displacement camps, where conditions are dire. Many local Fulani leaders denounce what seems to be an attempt to dismantle the community’s cultural identity and territorial presence.

A witness recalls that between March 7 and 8, pro-government militias began hunting down the Fulani in the village of Lahirasso: the armed groups opened fire indiscriminately and scattered the Fulani’s livestock, forcing them to flee. Staying meant certain death.

Between March 14 and April 22, 2025, Human Rights Watch interviewed 27 witnesses to these attacks, including two militia members and four journalists. What emerged was horrifying.

Government forces fired into the air, forcing villagers to flee so they could be cut off and trapped in the woods. That’s when the massacre began, primarily targeting women, children, and the elderly.

The Fulani continue to pay the price of an identity that has become a target. In the deafening silence of the international community, Burkina Faso risks turning the fight against terrorism into a war against itself. And while villages burn and the victims’ voices fade away, one question remains unanswered: who protects those who have no one left to defend them?

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