Recurrent and expanding violence perpetrated by armed Islamist groups, as well as security operations to confront them, threaten populations in the Central Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – with violations that likely amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

BACKGROUND:

Populations in the Central Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – are enduring armed conflict and inter-communal violence amidst an entrenched insurgency driven by armed Islamist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda (JNIM) and the so-called Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP). Violence has also taken place between rival ethnic militias and community-based self-defense groups resulting in reprisal attacks and countless abuses. There have been thousands of conflict-related civilian deaths, including 2,640 recorded by the UN between January and March 2026.

Armed Islamist groups perpetrate recurrent abuses and attacks against civilians. These groups systematically use sieges, threats, kidnappings, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), drones and landmines as deliberate tactics of war as they seek to control supply routes and increase areas of influence. They have increasingly consolidated control along major transport corridors, isolating communities through blockades, disrupting markets and restricting civilian movement, including in urban areas. In besieged areas, armed Islamist groups are blocking humanitarian aid to civilians and causing starvation, imposing forced taxation and strategically destroying and looting civilian objects, including places of worship, health centers, food reserves and water services, among other violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). They have also enforced their own interpretation of Sharia law in areas under their control, imposing severe gender discriminatory rules. Insurgents also routinely perpetrate grave violations against children and target secular state education, burning schools and threatening, abducting or killing teachers.

Counterterrorism operations have often led to human rights violations in all three states, with security forces in Mali and Burkina Faso implicated in likely war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and Russian state-controlled Africa Corps (formerly the Wagner Group) have perpetrated possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, including summary executions, indiscriminate airstrikes, rape and sexual violence, pillaging and torture against civilians, among other abuses. State-sponsored militias in Burkina Faso, notably the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), have also been implicated in grave crimes along ethnic lines. According to Human Rights Watch, the ethnic targeting of Fulani civilians by the Burkinabè military and VDPs through killings, enforced disappearances and looting, which resulted in the mass displacement of entire communities, amounts to ethnic cleansing.

The insurgency in the Central Sahel has its origins in the 2012-2013 armed conflict in northern Mali, during which numerous parties to the conflict, including Tuareg separatists and a coalition of armed Islamist groups, perpetrated atrocity crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been investigating in Mali since 2013 and has delivered two convictions as well as reparation orders for victims. Accountability remains limited with few alleged perpetrators having been arrested, prosecuted or tried for international crimes.

The region has faced significant political and security upheaval since 2020, including military takeovers in all three countries. These regimes have repressed civic space and reduced international scrutiny into human rights conditions. Journalists, human rights defenders, political opposition and others face arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and unlawful forced military conscription. The military regimes created the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in 2023 and formally withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States in January 2025 and launched the AES Unified Force – a joint security mechanism – in December.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Violence escalated significantly following unprecedented, coordinated attacks launched on 25 April by JNIM and the Tuareg separatist group Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) across several locations in central and northern Mali. Protection risks and reports of human rights violations and abuses have increased sharply amid subsequent clashes, counteroffensives and JNIM’s blockade of Bamako and surrounding areas. Both JNIM and FAMa have been accused of killing scores of people in central Mali since May. JNIM’s attacks prompted criticism from affected communities and the Dogon civil society organization Ginna Dogon, which called on authorities to strengthen security measures and improve civilian protection. The FAMa, alongside Africa Corps, has simultaneously intensified aerial operations, resulting in mounting civilian harm. Bellingcat and Jeune Afrique documented evidence suggesting the first confirmed use of Russian-made cluster munitions in Mali.

In Niger, ISSP has perpetrated increasingly sophisticated and expanding attacks, including an unprecedented attack targeting the international airport in Niamey. Civilians, particularly in Tillabéri, remain caught between armed Islamist groups, self-defense militias and increasing counterterrorism operations by state security forces. In December the military authorities declared a “general mobilization,” granting sweeping powers to requisition civilians and resources for counterinsurgency operations. In March authorities also announced plans to establish territorial self-defense organizations, raising concerns about the proliferation of community-based armed actors and the risk of retaliatory violence. In May a series of clashes devolved between local self-defense militias and armed Islamist groups, as part of a recent cycle of reprisals and targeted killings in Tillabéri that are fueling displacement and civilian targeting.

Military authorities across the Central Sahel have continued to restrict civic space and suppress dissent. Burkinabé authorities intensified crackdowns through restrictive legislation, administrative pressure and punitive measures targeting domestic and international organizations. At least 929 civil society groups were suspended between April and May 2026 alone. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) announced on 30 June that it will permanently close its office in Burkina Faso after authorities indefinitely suspended its activities in February following criticism of restrictions on civic space. The closure ends OHCHR’s ability to monitor and report on human rights violations in the country, leaving no international human rights presence to independently document abuses. Since the start of May, Malian authorities have intensified a crackdown on political opposition through arbitrary arrests and detentions, reinforcing a well-documented pattern of abductions by the National Agency for State Security. UN experts have previously warned that the frequency, organized nature and methods used for enforced disappearances suggest a systematic nature.

In April three civil society organizations initiated proceedings before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACPHR) concerning alleged serious violations committed against civilians in 2022 by FAMa and Wagner Group personnel. The case is reportedly the first to seek accountability before the Court for a state’s use of private military actors. Meanwhile, Malian refugees in Mauritania have continued to report abuses committed by Africa Corps personnel, including indiscriminate killings, abductions, sexual violence and torture.

ANALYSIS:

While Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger each face distinct challenges, these states also share a legacy of structural vulnerabilities, weak governance, limited state presence and porous borders. Although the military authorities in each country have expressed a goal of advancing security to protect civilian lives, the security situation has continued to deteriorate and state authority weakened. While the FAMa has a record of human rights violations, the scale of crimes has increased since the deployment of Russian paramilitaries.

Armed Islamist groups have perpetrated human rights abuses, some of which likely amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. These groups appear to be deliberately targeting civilians as a tactic to pressure communities into cooperation, as well as utilizing blockades to punish communities perceived to be supportive of the military. They are also deliberately disrupting economies, including through coordinated offensives blocking key trade and transport routes, to undermine government authority; however, these blockades are significantly worsening humanitarian conditions. The geographic spread and sophistication of attacks by JNIM and ISSP in recent months highlight the growing capacity of these groups to operate across vast distances and challenge state authority.

Populations continue to be targeted and persecuted on the basis of their ethnic and/or religious identity. The VDP’s actions fuel abuses and possible atrocity crimes, aggravate ethnic tensions, encourage militant recruitment among pastoralists and contribute to prevailing impunity. The growing use of air and drone strikes, IEDs and rocket and mortar shellings underscores a shift in combat tactics by JNIM and ISSP, contributing to indiscriminate violence, civilian harm and likely war crimes.

The crackdown against human rights defenders and civic space has inhibited independent documentation and monitoring of violations and abuses. Other efforts to investigate allegations of atrocities by state actors have also been undermined. The announced withdrawal from the ICC further weakens avenues for justice and redress for victims of atrocity crimes.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Militarized approach of counterinsurgency that stigmatizes certain populations and increases risk of escalatory dynamics.
    • Unresolved long-standing inter-communal tensions and grievances and the use of militias and self-defense groups that perpetrate attacks along ethnic lines.
    • Impunity for past and ongoing atrocities, combined with limited accountability mechanisms, heightens risks of further crimes.
    • Capacity to commit atrocities, including availability of personnel, arms and ammunition.
    • Systematic crackdown on civic space, dissent and the rule of law characterized by increasing restrictions, attacks and stigmatizing statements against real or perceived critical voices.

NECESSARY ACTION:

While countering violent extremism remains crucial, it is essential that all armed actors ensure that their operations comply with IHL, as well as the Principles and Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism in Africa, and do not exacerbate inter-communal tensions or fuel further violence. The militaries must establish guidelines on the use of aerial weapons during operations and ensure they minimize civilian harm. All actors should refrain from supporting or collaborating with ethnically aligned militias with poor human rights records. The African Union should call for an extraordinary session to address the crisis across the region, as well as publicly denounce abuses.

Additional measures must be implemented to end the proliferation of arms, improve land management and reach political settlements in areas where atrocity risks are greatest.

The military authorities of the Central Sahel – with support from national human rights commissions and the ACPHR – should investigate all violations of International Human Rights Law and IHL. ICC member countries should publicly and privately urge Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to reverse their decisions to withdraw from the ICC. Authorities must stop threatening civil society, ensure they can operate without fear of reprisals and release all those arbitrarily detained. The Malian military government should cooperate with the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali to ensure they can effectively carry out their mandate.

For more on the Global Centre’s advocacy work on the situation in the Central Sahel, see our Central Sahel country advocacy page.