since Ibrahim Traoré seized power. The government on Sunday called the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report "false", dismissing the findings as "conjecture and serious unfounded claims". The report has "only one purpose... to demonise" the country's troops, who have always fought with "professionalism", its statement added. The government has dismissed previous accusations that their forces have killed civilians. Last week, HRW attributed most of the killings - 1,255 - to the military and allied militias. The rights group blamed the rest of the deaths on Islamist militants. About 1,837 civilians were killed in 57 incidents between January 2023 and August 2025, including dozens of children, the report said. HRW found 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 said five jihadist leaders may be culpable. 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. (BBC)