Burkina Faso at a breaking point: Ibrahim Traoré’s four years of military power reach a decisive crossroads

Ouagadougou — When Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power on 30 September 2022 by deposing Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, he promised a radical reset for Burkina Faso. Four years on, the junta leader points to a sweeping transformation: reclaimed territory, a strengthened army, asserted national sovereignty, and a clean break with several Western partners. Yet the turning point he claims has come at a heavy human cost — and the momentum driving his agenda is now colliding with the reality of persistent insecurity, mass displacement, and shrinking public freedoms.

The security gamble: a war that refuses to end

From his first days in office, Traoré made the fight against jihadist groups his defining mission. His government poured resources into the armed forces and expanded the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP), civilian auxiliaries tasked with backing up the military.

Officials insist the strategy has turned the tide. They point to areas once controlled or threatened by armed groups that have been brought back under state authority, alongside growing military capacity and a population mobilised for the cause. Traoré himself has framed this as proof that Burkina Faso can reclaim its own destiny.

But four years into his rule, the violence has not faded. Armed groups continue to strike security forces and civilians alike. The ACLED monitoring group notes that jihadist factions retain significant operational reach across the country, with attacks on civilians remaining a central feature of the conflict.

The result is a contradiction that defines Traoré’s tenure: the state says it has tightened its grip on territory, yet insecurity remains an everyday reality in many regions. Reclaiming ground, it turns out, is not the same as securing it.

Over two million displaced: the human ledger of the conflict

Perhaps the heaviest indicator of the crisis is the scale of displacement. UNHCR data show that more than two million people were internally displaced within Burkina Faso by late 2025, with refugees and asylum seekers adding to the total. The agency’s October–December 2025 tally recorded precisely over 2.06 million internally displaced persons.

Jihadist attacks are not the only driver. Human Rights Watch has documented violence by government forces and VDP auxiliaries against civilians accused — often on flimsy grounds — of supporting armed groups. The organisation says it recorded attacks that killed at least 1,800 civilians between 2023 and 2025, while stressing that abuses have been committed by multiple parties to the conflict.

The plight of the displaced captures a core failure of the security strategy: taking back a territory does not automatically mean keeping its people safe. For many Burkinabè, the promise of reconquest has come with a bitter aftertaste.

Press freedom under siege

Another sharp rupture of the Traoré years concerns the media. Authorities justify restrictive measures by citing the war effort and the need to protect morale among troops and civilians. Press freedom organisations, however, describe a dramatic narrowing of the media landscape.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says multiple journalists have been arrested, abducted, or conscripted into the armed forces. In 2025 alone, the group counted several journalists forced into military service and eight interrogated by security services during October.

The case of Atiana Serge Oulon, publication director of the newspaper L’Événement, has become emblematic. Abducted in June 2024, he was presented by authorities as having been requisitioned for army service. An investigation published in 2026 by RSF claims he was instead held secretly in Ouagadougou, not sent to the front as the official version maintained.

Forced enlistment: a new tool of repression?

The question of forced conscription extends well beyond journalists. Human Rights Watch reports that dozens of government critics were requisitioned and sent to combat zones. The organisation believes the practice has targeted journalists, civil society activists, opposition figures, and magistrates.

The issue is especially sensitive because it blurs the line between national mobilisation and political punishment. In wartime, the state has legal mechanisms to mobilise citizens for national defence. But human rights groups stress that such procedures must respect legal safeguards and allow those affected to challenge their assignments.

A sovereignty agenda with a darker edge

Traoré defends a vision built on sovereignty and a break from old dependencies. Burkina Faso has distanced itself from France, deepened ties with Russia, and moved closer to Mali and Niger within the Alliance of Sahel States. The government also touts policies to process resources locally, particularly in the mining sector.

Yet this assertion of sovereignty has come with a shrinking political and civic space. According to multiple organisations, journalists, activists, opponents, and human rights defenders have been arrested, detained, or forced into exile.

Four years on: a verdict still being written

Four years after the September 2022 coup, Traoré’s record resists a single narrative. His government can point to the militarisation of the fight against armed groups, the mobilisation of the VDP, a push for greater strategic autonomy, and some economic gains.

But the displacement figures, the persistence of attacks, and allegations of abuses against civilians show that the security crisis runs deep. At the same time, the arrests of journalists, disappearances, and forced enlistments documented by international organisations raise a troubling question: what price is being paid in the name of war?

In Burkina Faso, after four years of military rule, the challenge remains twofold: reclaim the territory, and ensure that reconquest does not come at the expense of the rights and protection of the people living there.

By Marguerite Ndongo — Journalist