A trio of pro-government Burkinabe militias, including the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), stormed the western city of Solenzo on March 10 and unleashed a deadly two-day attack that killed dozens of civilians. As in many attacks by Burkinabe security forces, their allies and terror groups, children were among the victims.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recently issued a report that focused on children and armed conflict in Burkina Faso between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2024. The UNSC reported 2,483 grave violations affecting 2,255 children, including 1,310 boys, 750 girls and 195 children whose gender was not identified. More than 220 children endured multiple abuses.
Grave violations involve killing and maiming children, and abducting them and recruiting them into terror groups, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)
“I urge all parties to conflict in Burkina Faso to immediately end grave violations, release all children in their ranks and abide by international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” Virginia Gamba, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for children and armed conflict, said in the report.
According to the report, armed groups were responsible for 1,610 violations, while 501 cases were linked to defense and security forces and pro-government militias. Another 372 violations could not be attributed to a specific group. Some child casualties resulted from crossfire incidents between unidentified perpetrators. A total of 920 children were killed and 466 maimed, including 190 who were killed or maimed by improvised explosive devices and explosive war remnants. One girl died after being raped, and 20 children died after being set on fire.
Burkinabe authorities have organized training for defense and security forces and the VDP on the protection of children’s rights during military operations. Gamba welcomed that step and urged the forces to “take concrete prevention measures to protect children during military operations, including when attacking armed groups’ camps, where children associated with armed groups may be present.”
According to the report, 257 children — including 255 boys and two girls, between the ages of 10 and 17 — were recruited and used by terror groups, including 193 by JNIM and 44 by the ISGS. The recruitment and use of children by terror groups was most prevalent in the last quarter of 2023.
The factors leading to the recruitment and use of children “included abduction, persuasion by local leaders, relatives or parents, enticement with promises of financial gain from armed groups, and revenge,” the report said.
In most cases, recruited children were used in combat. In November 2023, 111 children recruited by JNIM were killed by airstrikes carried out by Burkinabe forces during a counteroffensive in the Sahel region.
“I strongly urge all parties to conflict not to target civilians, including children, to take all necessary measures to avoid harm to children in the conduct of their operations and to adhere strictly to their obligations under international law,” Gamba said in the report.
During the reporting period, 25 boys were being held in a high-security prison in Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital, for their alleged association with armed groups. Six had been held for several years. All were arrested during military operations.
The U.N. also recorded 79 attacks on schools and 53 attacks on hospitals. As of June 2024, 21% of the country’s schools were closed, affecting 844,203 children. An estimated 6.3 million people, including 3.4 million children, needed protection and nutritional and health support. More than 2 million people, most of them children, were displaced during the report’s time frame.
Burkina Faso’s government has not updated the number of internally Islamic State,\nTerrorism,displaced people since March 2023, but diplomats and humanitarian officials estimate the number is now between 3 million and 5 million, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies reported.
By ADF
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