New Delhi: A little less than two months ago on 24 August, Burkina Faso witnessed one of the deadliest single attacks in Africa in the past few decades when Islamist militants gunned down about 600 people within hours in Barsalogho town as they were digging trenches in a desperate effort to defend their town from jihadist militants.
The attack by an al-Qaeda-linked militant group put the spotlight on the former French colony, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for about a decade since Islamist groups, including some linked to Islamic State, spread into Burkina Faso from neighbouring Mali.
These groups—operating in the Sahel region stretching across sub-Saharan Africa south of the Sahara Desert—have taken advantage of Burkina Faso’s weak governance and ethnic tensions to launch numerous attacks on civilians, particularly in the northern and eastern regions.
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Historical tensions and the rise of extremism
Burkina Faso has always had a history of political instability. A series of military coups have marked the country’s history since it won independence from France in 1960 as the Republic of Upper Volta.
The first occurred in 1966 when the army seized power following large-scale popular unrest against a government financial austerity plan. Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana took control from President Maurice Yaméogo, who had been in power since independence.
Lamizana ruled until 1980 when he was overthrown in another coup following a series of strikes by workers, teachers and civil servants, and Colonel Saye Zerbo took over. Zerbo’s rule was short-lived.
In 1983, a charismatic Marxist revolutionary known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”, Captain Thomas Sankara, seized power. He became a national hero for implementing progressive reforms on environmental protection, women’s rights and political decentralisation.
Sankara—who renamed the country Burkina Faso, meaning “Land of Incorruptible People”—was assassinated in a coup in 1987 and his deputy, Blaise Compaoré, seized power.
Compaoré went on to rule for 27 years before he was ousted in another coup in 2014 following mass protests against his attempt to change the constitution and extend his presidency.
After Compaoré was toppled, Burkina Faso entered a period of increasing instability as Islamist insurgency emerged as a major threat.
In January 2016, Islamist militants attacked a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, killing 30 people. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack.
By 2020, Burkina Faso had become a prime target for militants, leading to a dramatic increase in violence, with the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) playing a key role in the bloodshed.
In 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a coup pledging to improve the security situation in Burkina Faso within “two to three months”. However, violence has only increased.
Over the years, thousands have been killed in attacks on rural communities and millions forced to flee because of the violence.
Rights groups say attacks are often in retaliation against communities who refuse to join the jihadists or have been accused of collaborating with government troops.
The growing influence of these jihadist groups, coupled with a fragile government and internal ethnic divisions, has left the country struggling to control the escalating insecurity.
The military, which came to power in a 2022 coup, faces a difficult challenge in quelling the violence, even as the country remains a significant player in regional counterterrorism efforts.
The August 2024 massacre
The August 2024 massacre was the deadliest example of the escalating jihadist violence in the Sahel region.
According to a French security assessment, up to 600 people were killed when militants from the al-Qaeda-affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) launched the brutal attack on civilians on 24 August.
The victims were digging defensive trenches around the town of Barsalogho, following orders from the military, when the militants armed with automatic weapons and riding on motorcycles systematically gunned down the villagers.
Witnesses said the ground was soaked with blood and many of the victims were women and children.
Experts say the militants took advantage of security gaps left by the withdrawal of French and U.S. forces amid political instability in the region.
The massacre came months after Burkinabé military forces executed at least 223 civilians, including 56 children, on 25 February in two separate villages as part of an anti-insurgency operation, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
However, evidence indicated that the attack was unprovoked and targeted civilians, not militants, highlighting a troubling pattern of abuse by both jihadist groups and the military, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence, the report said.
The Burkinabé military has faced accusations of committing atrocities against civilians during its counterinsurgency operations.
Reports of summary executions, massacres and other human rights violations have only added to the suffering of the civilian population.
This has deepened the mistrust between local communities and the military, undermining efforts to restore order and security.
Humanitarian crisis
The violence has led to a massive humanitarian crisis as more than 1.7 million people have been displaced within Burkina Faso.
Many of these displaced people live in overcrowded camps that lack access to basic necessities such as food, clean water and medical care.
The violence has also disrupted education, with schools either destroyed or repurposed as shelters for displaced people.
The government, still reeling from the aftermath of the 2022 military coup, is struggling to maintain control and provide basic services to the population.
Aid organisations are also struggling to meet the basic needs of these populations.
As jihadist groups continue to exploit the chaos, targeting villages and spreading fear across the region, the country’s capacity to address the growing insecurity and humanitarian crisis is being tested to its limits.
International reactions to the massacre
The massacre in Burkina Faso has drawn widespread condemnation from both human rights organisations and foreign governments.
The United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) expressed grave concern in a joint statement on the February 2024 attack, criticising Burkina Faso’s military junta, led by Traoré, for failing to protect civilians.
The junta’s inability to offer a credible military strategy to counter the jihadist threat has been heavily criticised, with some reports even suggesting that Burkinabé forces fled the scene of the massacre, leaving civilians vulnerable to attack.
Future prospects
Experts say Burkina Faso needs a more coordinated regional and international response to address the root causes of extremism and insecurity in the Sahel.
The withdrawal of Western forces from the region has left a power vacuum that jihadist groups have seized upon and restoring security will require a sustained effort from both local and international players.
With growing jihadist influence, a fragile government and a widespread humanitarian crisis, the country’s stability and security are at risk.
And as insurgent groups gain ground, it’s not just Burkina Faso but the wider Sahel region that’s at risk.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)