Human Rights Watch says its investigation has identified at least 27 civilians killed in two incidents in northern Burkina Faso in September: an attack on a gold-mining site and a separate explosion on a nearby track.
The organisation said an armed group attacked the artisanal mining site near Soubo on 1 September, killing at least 24 civilians and injuring at least 20 others. Witnesses told its investigators that three people travelling on a motorcycle were killed by an explosive near Mera village four days later.
Both incidents took place in Yatenga province, in the Ouahigouya district. The deaths occurred in September; Human Rights Watch released its findings on 4 November.
Conflicting accounts of the mine attack
Human Rights Watch said Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, known as JNIM, an armed group linked to al-Qaeda, was responsible for the Soubo attack. It said fighters arrived on motorcycles at about 1am and opened fire on people at the site, including those trying to escape. Witnesses told the investigators the attack lasted about two hours and that structures and equipment were burned.
Human Rights Watch said JNIM acknowledged the attack. In a response to the organisation, the group disputed the status of the people killed, saying the victims were members of the government-allied Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland militia rather than civilians.
The investigators reached a different conclusion. Witnesses told them that neither soldiers nor volunteer fighters were present during the attack or stationed at the site, although they sometimes patrolled the surrounding area. The researchers said they reviewed a list supplied by residents naming 24 people killed, whom they identified as civilians: three women and 21 men.
Witnesses and satellite images
Human Rights Watch said its team conducted remote interviews with 15 people during September and October, including four witnesses to the Soubo attack and three witnesses to the Mera explosion. The interviewees also included human rights defenders.
To examine the mine attack, the researchers said they verified and located four videos posted online after the incident and analysed satellite imagery and fire-detection data. They found evidence of fires at the site in the early hours of 1 September. They said images from 10 October showed hundreds of structures destroyed or no longer visible.
Human Rights Watch said the images and data provided evidence of destruction at the site. They do not, by themselves, establish the identity or status of every person killed.
Residents told the researchers that about 1,000 people had been at the site, including miners, shopkeepers, restaurant operators and children. Earlier in the year, the authorities had ordered a temporary suspension of artisanal mining in the district from July to the end of September, citing the risk of landslides during the rainy season. Residents said work had continued despite the order.
Uncertainty over the Mera explosion
Human Rights Watch said the second incident occurred on 5 September on a dirt track near Mera. A 40-year-old man driving a motorcycle, a 65-year-old woman and a five-year-old boy were killed when an explosive detonated, the organisation said.
Residents interviewed by the investigators believed JNIM had planted an improvised explosive device. However, the researchers said they could not independently determine what type of explosive was used or how it was triggered. Witnesses said they had seen fighters on the road the previous evening, but saw none nearby at the time of the explosion.
Responsibility for the blast has not been established. Human Rights Watch called for improved efforts to clear explosive hazards and support victims, as well as stronger protection for threatened communities and investigations into alleged abuses.
The incidents occurred against the backdrop of a prolonged conflict involving Islamist armed groups, Burkina Faso’s security forces and allied volunteers. Amnesty International says government forces and their auxiliaries also committed abuses against civilians during the conflict in 2025. Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a conflict-research group, has found that violence around mining in the central Sahel can affect surrounding settlements, commercial activity and roads, not solely extraction sites.
Human Rights Watch described the killings as apparent war crimes. That is the organisation’s assessment, not a judicial ruling. International humanitarian law prohibits attacks directed at civilians, and the organisation called for those responsible for serious violations to be investigated and fairly prosecuted.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
