Ouagadougou — On 30 September 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in Burkina Faso by toppling Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Four years on, the young junta leader presents his tenure as a radical reset: reclaiming territory, strengthening the armed forces, asserting national sovereignty and breaking with several Western partners. Yet behind that official narrative, the record remains fiercely contested — particularly on civilian safety, displacement and public freedoms.
The war on armed groups: a defining priority
From the moment he took office, Traoré made the fight against jihadist groups his foremost objective. His government bolstered the armed forces and expanded the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP), civilian auxiliaries enlisted to support the military.
The authorities claim to have retaken several areas previously controlled or threatened by armed groups. Traoré also highlights increased military capabilities and popular mobilisation as pillars of his security strategy.
But four years after his rise, violence has not vanished. Armed groups continue to attack security forces and civilians. ACLED notes that jihadist groups retain significant operational capacity in Burkina Faso and that attacks on civilians remain a central feature of the conflict.
The result is a paradox: the state asserts greater territorial control, yet insecurity remains a daily reality across several regions.
Over two million displaced
One of the heaviest indicators of the conflict is population displacement. According to UNHCR data, more than two million people were internally displaced within Burkina Faso by the end of 2025, in addition to refugees and asylum seekers. UNHCR’s October–December 2025 tally recorded precisely over 2.06 million internally displaced persons.
These displacements are not solely the result of jihadist attacks. Human Rights Watch also documents violence by government forces and VDP against civilians accused, among other things, of supporting armed groups. The organisation says it documented attacks that killed at least 1,800 civilians between 2023 and 2025, while stressing that abuses are committed by multiple parties to the conflict.
The plight of the displaced thus encapsulates a major flaw in the security record: retaking territory does not necessarily mean durably guaranteeing the safety of those who live there.
Journalists under pressure
The other major rupture of Traoré’s four years concerns press freedom. The authorities justify certain measures by the war context and the need to preserve the morale of troops and the public. Press freedom organisations, however, describe a considerable shrinking of the media space.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says several journalists have been arrested, abducted or requisitioned into the armed forces. In 2025, the organisation recorded several journalists subjected to forced enlistment and eight journalists questioned by security services in October alone.
The case of Atiana Serge Oulon, publication director of the newspaper L’Événement, has become emblematic. Abducted in June 2024, he was presented by the authorities as having been requisitioned to serve in the army. An RSF investigation published in 2026 nevertheless claims he was secretly detained in Ouagadougou rather than sent to the front as the official version indicated.
Forced enlistment: a new tool of repression?
The issue of forced enlistment goes beyond journalists alone. Human Rights Watch reports that dozens of government critics were allegedly requisitioned and sent to combat zones. The organisation believes the practice has affected journalists, civil society activists, opponents and magistrates.
The phenomenon is particularly sensitive because it blurs the line between national mobilisation and political punishment. In a war context, the state has mechanisms for national defence mobilisation. But human rights organisations stress that such procedures must respect legal safeguards and allow those concerned to challenge their assignment.
A power that claims sovereignty
Traoré, for his part, defends a vision rooted in sovereignty and a break from former dependencies. Burkina Faso has distanced itself from France, strengthened ties with Russia and moved closer to Mali and Niger within the Alliance of Sahel States. The government also promotes policies for local processing of resources, notably in the mining sector.
But this assertion of sovereignty comes with a contraction of political and civic space. Journalists, activists, opponents and human rights defenders have been arrested, detained or forced into exile, according to several organisations.
Four years, an unfinished reckoning
Four years after the September 2022 coup, Traoré’s record cannot be reduced to a single reading. His government can point to the militarisation of the fight against armed groups, the mobilisation of the VDP, the pursuit of greater strategic autonomy and some economic advances.
Yet displacement figures, persistent attacks and accusations of abuses against civilians show that the security crisis remains deep. At the same time, arrests of journalists, disappearances and forced enlistments documented by international organisations raise the question of the price paid in the name of war.
In Burkina Faso, after four years of military rule, the challenge remains twofold: reclaiming territory, but also ensuring that reconquest does not come at the expense of rights and the protection of populations.