On 6 August, suspected Ansaroul Islam members unlawfully killed at least 22 people during a raid in Nohao (a town in the CentreEst region), in which tradespeople were targeted. A dozen cars and trucks carrying goods were also burnt during the attack. ABUSES BY GOVERNMENT FORCES On 13 February, military soldiers and VDPs abducted seven civilians, including at least one minor, from La Ferme in Ouahigouya, where there is a substantial population of displaced people. These individuals were taken to the Zondoma military camp and were beaten and stoned to death, a crime that was video recorded and spread via social media. During 3-4 April, several soldiers based in Dori (Sahel province) beat up and shot dead seven civilians in Petit-Paris, also wounding several others, according to the MBDHP. The raid was reportedly in retaliation for the murder of a soldier in the neighbourhood a few days earlier. On 20 April, soldiers accompanied by VDPs killed at least 147 civilians in the village of Karma (Yatenga province, Northern region) during a patrol operation. Members of the 3rd Rapid Intervention Battalion, a special unit of the army, participated in the operation.2 ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES Several public figures were victims of enforced disappearances. On 25 March, El Hadj Hamidou Bandé, national president of the Ruugas, an organization representing pastoralists’ interests, was abducted by four men in Fada Ngourma (Eastern region). A few days later, one of his associates, Moussa Thiombiano known as “Django”, a Koglweogo chieftain, was abducted near his residence. On 28 April, Mohamed Diallo, the 74-yearold imam of the Lafiabougou mosque in Bobo-Dioulasso (Hauts-Bassins region) was arrested at his home by men presenting themselves as members of the security and defence forces. On 21 September, businessman Anselme Kambou was taken from his home by 112 suspected members of the intelligence services and taken to an unknown destination. In November, a court in the capital, Ouagadougou, ordered the intelligence services to release him but he remained in detention. His fate and whereabouts, and those of the other three men above, remained unknown at year’s end. GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE On 12 January, 66 women, girls, and newborns were abducted by alleged members of Ansaroul Islam, near the village of Liki (Soum province, Sahel region).3 The women had been gathering food due to the siege against the town of Arbinda by Ansaroul Islam. They were freed in the town of Tougouri, on 16 January, during a routine road control of the truck they were in. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Armed groups, such as Ansaroul Islam, abused the economic, social and cultural rights of thousands of Burkinabe by laying siege to at least 46 towns and villages. Inflation became endemic in several of the besieged towns such as Djibo, Tanwalbougou and Gayeri. Armed groups sabotaged water infrastructure in Djibo, attacked food supply convoys trying to reach these towns and forbade residents from farming their lands or grazing their livestock around many of these. RIGHT TO EDUCATION As of October, at least 6,549 schools were forced to close due to the conflict, according to the Ministry of Education. The same source stated that 539 schools were reopened in 2023. According to UNICEF, more than 31,000 teachers and over 1 million schoolchildren were affected by these school closures. 1. “Burkina Faso: In the face of repeated attacks, the right to information must be protected”, 7 April (French only) 2. Burkina Faso: Responsibility of the army indicated in Karma massacre”, 3 May 3. Burkina Faso: “Death Was Slowly Creeping on Us”: Living Under Siege in Burkina Faso, 2 November The State of the World’s Human Rights