Human Rights Watch (HRW) on July 22 reported that Mali's armed forces and allied Russian mercenaries have carried out numerous "summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men." HRW documented that, since January, the Malian army and Wagner Group mercenaries have executed "at least a dozen Fulani men and forcibly disappeared at least 81 men" during joint operations targeting Islamist armed groups. The rights group said that the insurgents have focused their recruitment efforts on the Fulani, and that "successive Malian governments have conflated the Fulani community with Islamist fighters, putting them at grave risk."

Amnesty International expressed concern June 24 over recurrent drone strikes conducted by Pakistan's military, which have caused unlawful loss of civilian lives. The rights group stated that the strikes in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have resulted in the deaths of 17 people this year, urging authorities to investigate these incidents and hold those responsible accountable.

A late May ceasefire between Yemen's Houthi rebels and the US appears to be holding, although Israel and the Houthis are still in conflict, with the latter saying this week that they have joined Iran's war effort. A new report from casualty monitor AirWars looks at the civilian death toll during the 53 days of "Operation Rough Rider," when Trump escalated a long-running US bombing campaign in Yemen. The monitor says at least 224 civilians were killed between the operation's start in mid-March until the May truce, marking a massive escalation from previous US campaigns. If you also include the 258 civilians counted as killed in the previous 23 years of US operations against the Houthis, al-Qaeda, and other groups, it takes the overall civilian toll from US bombing in Yemen to almost 500.

The so-called Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgent group has launched its most successful military campaign to date in northeast Nigeria's Lake Chad Basin region. Throughout May, ISWAP raided a series of supposedly impenetrable army bases, forcing the military's withdrawal and the displacement of civilian communities—some of whom had been recently resettled by the Borno State government following its closure of internally displaced persons camps in the state capital, Maiduguri.

Human Rights Watch has called on the government of Mali to "credibly and independently" investigate the apparent extrajudicial execution of 22 men who were detained by the army in the town of Diafarabé. Senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch Ilaria Allegrozzi said in a May 20 statement: "The killing of at least 22 men in military custody puts a burden on the Malian authorities to demonstrate that its investigation is credible and to make public its findings." She further noted that those responsible should be prosecuted "fully and fairly."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the military of Burkina Faso on May 12 of orchestrating massacres of Fulani civilians between March 14 and April 22 under the auspices of a counter-terrorism operation against Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM)—which reportedly retaliated through the targeted killings of civilians viewed as supportive of the military.

The military operation took place in Banwa and Sourou provinces, with interviewees quoted by HRW stating that women, children and the elderly were often targeted. Witnesses believe that the operation has resulted in the displacement of most Fulani people from Banwa province. The Fulani have been collectively blamed for violence perpetrated by JNIM and other affiliated Islamist groups.

The government of Benin announced that 54 soldiers were killed April 17 in attacks by jihadists on military positions in a national park near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger. The attacks in Park W, claimed by al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM, are the deadliest yet in Benin. JNIM attacks in Benin have now caused more fatalities so far in 2025 (157) than they did in the entirety of 2024 (103), according to the monitor Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED). (TNH)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for an immediate investigation into the massacre of dozens of civilians in Burkina Faso's western city of Solenzo on March 10 and 11. In a March 14 statement, HRW noted video footage circulating on social media that implicates pro-government militias in the killings, raising serious concerns about accountability and civilian protection in a country already grappling with widespread violence and human rights abuses. The victims, many of whom belonged to the Fulani ethnic group, were targeted in what appears to be a reprisal attack amid ongoing counterinsurgency operations.