Government and allied forces in Burkina Faso have killed more than twice as many civilians as Islamist militants have since 2023, according to a tally of incidents documented in a report, opens new tab published on Thursday by Human Rights Watch.

The pattern is broadly consistent with data shared ​with Reuters by Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict monitoring group, and also applies to neighbouring Mali.

In that country, which like Burkina Faso is ruled by a military-led government ‌that seized power in a coup, government forces and their partners have been responsible for three to four times as many civilian killings as jihadists over the last two years, according to ACLED’s data.

Violence involving jihadist groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has surged since 2021, making the Sahel region a global terrorism hotspot.

Widespread deaths of civilians at the hands of government forces could bolster the political legitimacy of militant groups and fuel recruitment, analysts said.

They could also complicate steps by the United States to improve relations ​with Sahel governments, which expelled French and other Western forces after their respective coups.

Burkina Faso’s security forces and allied militias “appear to be more brutal and violent” than militant groups like the local al ​Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The Burkinabe forces’ behaviour is part of a regional pattern, raising concerns ⁠about military indiscipline and its consequences for counterinsurgency efforts, she said.

Spokesperson for the Mali and Burkina Faso governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

The Burkina Faso government and JNIM’s Sharia Committee ​in Burkina Faso did not respond to requests for comment from HRW.

Mali and Burkina Faso have previously denied allegations of extrajudicial killings, saying instead that their forces had killed “terrorists”.

–Reuters–