Click to expand Image Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso, October 25, 2021. © 2021 Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images An Al-Qaeda-linked armed group killed at least 27 civilians in two attacks in Burkina Faso’s northern Yatenga province in September 2026.The group’s relentless, unlawful attacks put civilians across Burkina Faso at grave risk. The laws of war prohibit attacking civilians, and those who order, commit, or assist serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent may be prosecuted for war crimes.Burkina Faso authorities should urgently strengthen protection for threatened communities, investigate abuses, and fairly prosecute those responsible.(Nairobi) – An Al-Qaeda-linked armed group killed at least 27 civilians in two attacks in Burkina Faso’s northern Yatenga province in September 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. These attacks violated international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes.On September 1, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM) attacked a gold mining site in Soubo, Ouahigouya district, killing 24 civilians, injuring at least 20 others, and burning property. On September 5, three civilians on a motorcycle, including a child, were killed by an explosive weapon on a dirt track near Mera village, also in Ouahigouya district. Local residents believe JNIM forces had planted an improvised explosive device (IED).“The JNIM armed group’s relentless, unlawful attacks put civilians across Burkina Faso at grave risk,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should urgently strengthen protection for threatened communities, investigate abuses, and fairly prosecute those responsible.” Click to expand Image Graphic © 2026 Human Rights Watch. In September and October, Human Rights Watch remotely interviewed 15 people, including 4 witnesses to the Soubo attack and 3 to the Mera attack, as well as human rights defenders and journalists. Human Rights Watch verified and geolocated four videos posted online showing the aftermath of the Soubo attack and analyzed satellite imagery and fire detection data to corroborate witness accounts. On September 1 at about 1 a.m., over 60 JNIM fighters riding motorbikes stormed an artisanal gold mining site about 1.5 kilometers northwest of Soubo village. They fired on civilians sleeping and working there, and at those trying to flee.“I’ve seen dozens of injured people, many by bullets, others because they fell while fleeing and fractured their legs or arms,” a 45-year-old man said. He said that those with gunshot wounds were treated at the regional university hospital in Ouahigouya. Witnesses said the attack lasted about two hours. Fearing further attacks, residents stayed away from the site for two to three days.During the attack, JNIM fighters destroyed hundreds of temporary structures such as sheds and huts, as well as motorcycles and mining tools.JNIM’s Sharia Committee, in a September 30 response (English, Arabic) to Human Rights Watch, acknowledged that JNIM forces attacked Soubo, but stated that the victims were members of the government-allied militias, known as Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (Volontaires pour la défense de la patrie, or VDP) and “not civilians.” However, witnesses told Human Rights Watch that soldiers and VDPs were neither present during the attack nor stationed at the site, although they occasionally patrolled the surrounding area.Mining sites are lucrative revenue sources for JNIM in Burkina Faso. The armed group leverages mining economies to generate revenue through “taxation” and extortion, recruit new fighters, secure essential supplies, and expand territorial control.Witnesses said that they believed JNIM, whose fighters include many ethnic Fulani, attacked the site in retaliation for the military’s targeting of Fulani people since 2022. Fulani communities, they said, had also worked at the gold mining site but had been killed and otherwise abused by the military and VDPs who viewed them as JNIM collaborators. A 45-year-old man said that while hiding in a pit to avoid getting shot, he heard a fighter say: “You chased us away, but you won’t exploit this place.”At about 9:30 a.m. on September 5, an explosive weapon detonated as people rode a motorcycle along a dirt track about three kilometers from Mera village on the route to Soubo and Sissamba. It killed the 40-year-old driver and his two passengers, a 65-year-old woman and a 5-year-old boy. Mera is near the Soubo mining site, in an area where JNIM fighters frequently carry out attacks. Witnesses said they saw no JNIM fighters nearby at the time of the explosion but had seen at least four fighters traveling along the track on two motorbikes the previous evening.A motorbike rider, 40, said, “I saw a motorcycle in front of me with three people on it, and suddenly there was an explosion…. Dust flew around like a whirlwind. I heard a loud bang that threw me off [the bike]. The explosion shook the ground.”Human Rights Watch could not independently verify the type of explosive weapon used or how it was detonated. However, JNIM has repeatedly carried out attacks in Burkina Faso using IEDs. A 2025 report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global coalition of nongovernmental organizations including Human Rights Watch dedicated to eradicating landmines and cluster munitions, noted JNIM’s use of IEDs in Burkina Faso. In 2024, Burkina Faso was among the countries with the highest rate of casualties—more than 200—due to landmines and explosive remnants of war globally. All parties to Burkina Faso’s armed conflict are bound by Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law. The laws of war prohibit attacking civilians, looting, and destroying civilian property. Individuals who order, commit, or assist serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent may be prosecuted for war crimes. The Burkinabè government has an obligation to investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged war crimes committed within its territory.“JNIM forces should immediately cease unlawful attacks against civilians and appropriately punish responsible commanders,” Allegrozzi said. “Burkina Faso’s authorities should urgently improve demining efforts and increase assistance to victims of IED attacks.”Since the start of its insurgency in Burkina Faso in 2017, JNIM has repeatedly attacked civilians and forcibly displaced tens of thousands of people. Burkina Faso’s armed forces and VDPs have also committed serious abuses against civilians, especially Fulani, during operations against Islamist armed groups. In a report released in April 2026, Human Rights Watch documented that the Burkinabè and allied militia have targeted Fulani communities because of their alleged support for Islamist armed groups, resulting in the ethnic cleansing of entire communities.The nongovernmental group Armed Conflict Location and Event Data reported that JNIM carried out 125 attacks across Burkina Faso from January to August, resulting in the killing of 188 civilians, at least 16 of them in IED attacks.Explosive devices can be designed or fabricated to be detonated by a person’s presence, proximity, or contact. Such victim-activated devices function as antipersonnel mines and are prohibited internationally, regardless of whether assembled in a factory or improvised from locally available materials. They can also be made to detonate on command by various simple means or by a simple timer. Victim-activated IEDs are inherently indiscriminate weapons and are banned under the Mine Ban Treaty, which Burkina Faso ratified in 1998.Soubo, Yatenga Province, September 1Witnesses said they identified the attackers by their clothes, including headscarves and a white flag with black writing, characteristic of JNIM. “They carried weapons and wore turbans,” said a 40-year-old artisanal miner and farmer. “They shouted Allah Akbar and shot at people at random.” JNIM is known to operate in the area and carry out attacks against government security forces and civilians. “The assailants began shooting everywhere and then went shed-by-shed,” a 37-year-old restaurant owner said. “I lay down in my restaurant and they found me.… They shot point-blank at two of my customers who fell in front of me.” She said that when JNIM fighters set her restaurant on fire, she had to get up to avoid being burned. One fighter wanted to kill her, but another told him to let her go because she was a woman. “They told me: ‘Tell your husbands not to come here anymore. These places belong to us.’”When residents who had fled the site of the attack returned, they found the victims’ bodies still on the ground or inside the mining pits. “I went back to the site three days later and saw the huge damage, a site covered in ashes,” said a 40-year-old artisanal miner. “I saw at least 20 bodies. The bodies were swollen and gave off a foul smell. I helped pick up the bodies and carry them for burial.” Residents said the bodies were buried in the cemeteries of the nearby villages of Soubo, Pirgo, and Sissamba.In June, Burkina Faso’s territorial administration minister had issued a decree suspending artisanal mining activities in Ouahigouya district from July 1 to September 30, to protect miners “from the high risk of landslides during the rainy season.” However, residents said, about a thousand people—mostly artisanal miners, but also shopkeepers, owners of small restaurants, and children—were at the site at the time of the attack. They said people had continued working despite the authorities’ suspension order, since officials never visited the site to enforce the suspension or check whether activities had ceased.“The terrorists burned a lot of property, huts under which there were small restaurants, motorcycles, small straw houses, mills, water pumps, and other equipment,” the 40-year-old artisanal miner said. “The fire spread from one hut to another. My barrel and my shed were also burned.”Human Rights Watch analyzed NASA satellite data and found evidence of numerous fires at the Soubo mining site on September 1 at 1:11 a.m. local time, corroborating witnesses’ accounts.Human Rights Watch also verified and geolocated four videos posted to TikTok on September 2 and 4, showing the destruction at the mining site. However, the videos only show a small part of the destruction visible in the satellite imagery. In imagery recorded on October 10, hundreds of structures are destroyed or no longer visible with burn scars on and around partially damaged structures, while others are completely destroyed. Satellite imagery recorded prior to the attack, on August 26, shows that the site contained at least 800 structures, consistent with witness accounts that at least 1,000 people were at the site. Click to expand Image Satellite imagery recorded on October 10, 2026 shows hundreds of structures destroyed or no longer visible at the Soubo gold mining site following the JNIM attack on September 1, 2026. Image © 2026 Planet Labs PBC. Analysis and Graphics © 2026 Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch reviewed a list provided by residents with the names of 24 victims, all civilians, including three women, ages 31, 36, and 37, and 21 men, ages 27 to 45. Mera, September 5, Yatenga provinceA farmer, 43, working in a field with other men near the road said he rushed to the scene after hearing the explosion. “When we arrived, we found a large hole at least one meter deep,” he said. “A few pieces of the woman's remains were not far from the hole – the woman had no body left. The man had been propelled far from the hole, near the bushes, as well as the child who had lost his lower limbs.”“The blast knocked the wind out of me, dust filled my throat, and I couldn’t see anything,” a 37-year-old man said. “The debris went very high before falling everywhere. I smelled a sharp, irritating odor, like sulfur.” He said that he and other people “took plastic tarps, collected the bodies and body parts, and carried out the burial the same day just after 2 p.m. in Yaoua village.” Witnesses said that after the explosion, soldiers arrived at the scene. The farmer said, “The military stepped in after the explosion to secure the area, searched for other IEDs and defused three of them, so we could safely take the bodies and bury them.”