Burkina Faso is the Theater of Several Non-International Armed Conflicts against Jihadist Groups

15 October 2020

Burkina Faso has been the theater of intense armed violence between jihadist armed groups and the government since 2015, with more than 550 attacks carried out by these groups against both Burkinabe armed forces and civilians.

These attacks have taken place in the Sahel region, close to the border with Mali and Niger and have been carried out by Ansaroul Islam – a local jihadist group operating in the country –, as well as by armed groups that operates also in Mali: the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM). The capital Ouagadougou has also been targeted.

In response, the government has deployed nearly 2000 soldiers in the east and in the Sahel and special gendarmerie units and conventional military forces have carried out large operations in the region, notably with the support of France via its operation Barkhane.

‘Our monitoring of the situation since 2015 allows us today to conclude that the Burkinabe army and France are currently engaged in a number of parallel non-international armed conflicts against Ansaroul Islam, ISGS, ISWAP, and JNIM ’ explains Dr Chiara Redaelli, Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy.

‘This classification has been triggered by both the level of armed violence and the degree of organization of these armed groups’ she adds.

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict (RULAC) online portal provides a detailed analysis of these conflicts, including information about parties, classification and applicable international law.

Implications of the Classification

Two main self-defence groups operate in Burkina Faso: the Koglweogo groups – ‘guardians of the bush’ in the local Mossi language –, and the Dozo groups – a brotherhood of around 5,000 hunters active in several West African countries and with a strong presence in Burkina Faso.

Aimed primarily at fighting crime and banditry, they have flourished in recent years following the weakening of the central government and the deterioration of security in the country.

These two groups have been involved in armed clashed around attempts by the Koglweogo groups to establish control in the Hauts-Bassins. They have also clashed with jihadist armed groups while signing, at the same time, non-aggression agreements with Islamist forces or collaborating with them regularly.

‘While self-defence groups constitute a threat to security in Burkina Faso, they are not sufficiently organized to be party to a NIAC’ underlines Dr Chiara Redaelli.

The French Intervention and Operation Barkhane