Government-backed Militias in Burkina Faso Accused of Abuses

OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO - The attack in Burkina Faso last month that killed 160 civilians was in retaliation for activity by pro-government civilian militias in the area, according to Human Rights Watch.

In the daytime, Daouda Diallo is a scientist. By night, he is one of Burkina Faso’s most prominent human rights campaigners.  He runs the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities, a campaigning group set up in the wake of the Yirgou massacre, an attack that saw around 200 people killed, mostly from the Fulani ethnic group, in early 2019.   In Burkina Faso’s conflict with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, the number of civilians killed by security forces has often come close to the numbers killed by the terror groups.