More than 1,800 civilians have been killed in Burkina Faso since Ibrahim Traoré seized power three years ago in acts amounting to "war crimes and crimes against humanity", a new report says.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says about 1,837 civilians, including dozens of children, were killed in 57 incidents between January 2023 and August 2025.
It attributes most of the killings - 1,255 - to the military and allied militias, with the rest blamed on Islamist militants.
HRW finds President Traoré and six senior military commanders "may be liable as a matter of command responsibility for grave abuses and should be investigated". It also says five jihadist leaders may be culpable.
The BBC has asked the Burkinabé authorities to comment on the report. They have dismissed previous accusations that their forces have killed civilians.
One of the reasons the military gave for seizing power was to tackle the jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda who have been waging an insurgency in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries for over a decade and control huge parts of the country.
The report is based on analysis of open-source information, including photos, videos and satellite imagery, and interviews with witnesses and survivors.