deathtoll.info

Since 17 January 2012 · Day 5,385

Sahel Death Toll

Deaths from organised violence since 17 January 2012, recorded event by event by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP): civilians, the parties to the war and other armed groups. Every figure has a source, a type of source and a reference date.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

Updated monthly

51,136

deaths from organised violence, best estimate (range 47,173 to 65,333)

Type of source: Monitor UCDP, up to 31 Aug 2026

Other counts

Counts by the UN, governments and independent monitors, each with its own period and definition. They are shown next to the UCDP figure and never added to it.

  • Civilians killed in Burkina Faso, at least 1,840

    Type of source: Monitor Human Rights Watch, 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Aug 2025

    In 57 documented incidents; Human Rights Watch attributes at least 1,255 of these deaths to the army and allied militias (VDP, Jan 2023 to Apr 2025) and at least 582 to JNIM.

  • Civilians killed in Mali, documented by the UN mission 1,277

    Type of source: Verified by UN MINUSMA, 1 Jan 2022 to 31 Dec 2022

    Does not include the killings in Moura in Mar 2022; the mission closed on 31 Dec 2023.

  • Children killed in Burkina Faso, verified by the UN 112

    Type of source: Verified by UN UN Secretary-General, children and armed conflict, 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Dec 2025

    Another 211 children were maimed; the UN attributes the 323 casualties to JNIM (220), unidentified perpetrators (100) and Islamic State Sahel Province (3).

  • Children killed in Mali, verified by the UN 107

    Type of source: Verified by UN UN Secretary-General, children and armed conflict, 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Dec 2025

    Another 201 children were maimed; the UN attributes the 308 casualties to unidentified perpetrators (166), the Malian armed forces (72), JNIM (55), Islamic State Sahel Province (8), CMA/FLA (6) and Ganda Izo (1).

  • Children killed in Niger, verified by the UN 76

    Type of source: Verified by UN UN Secretary-General, children and armed conflict, 1 Jan 2025 to 31 Dec 2025

    Another 49 children were maimed; the UN attributes the 125 casualties to Islamic State Sahel Province (90), unidentified perpetrators (27), Boko Haram (JAS, 6) and ISWAP (2).

Latest update

309

deaths in August 2026, the latest month in the data

Breakdown

Civilians
17,892
35%
Government forces and their allies
10,994
21%
JNIM
11,501
22%
Islamic State (Sahel)
4,667
9%
Other armed groups
3,020
6%
Not assigned
3,062
6%

UCDP assigns each death to the civilians or to a party where the sources allow it, and otherwise to not assigned. Deaths of a party are deaths among its own forces.

Increase

Past 12 months
+5,934
September 2025 to August 2026
In 2026 so far
+4,217
January to August 2026

Scope

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Counted: fighting between a government and armed groups, fighting between armed groups, and deliberate killings of civilians by an organised group, in events with at least one death.

Sources

Deaths per month

Best estimate per month, all groups together. The months of 2026 come from the monthly candidate data and can still change.

The chart needs JavaScript. The same figures are in the table below.

Show as monthly table
Deaths per month
MonthDeathsTotal since the start
August 202630951,136
July 202652650,827
June 202657650,301
May 202675149,725
April 202651048,974
March 202637148,464
February 202666748,093
January 202650747,426
December 202527146,919
November 202539946,648
October 202555046,249
September 202549745,699
August 202554245,202
July 202578344,660
June 202591743,877
May 20251,02742,960
April 202560941,933
March 20251,18441,324
February 202551740,140
January 202541939,623
December 202443239,204
November 202429538,772
October 202436838,477
September 202430338,109
August 202489837,806
July 202464636,908
June 202487236,262
May 20241,16835,390
April 202447434,222
March 202464133,748
February 202480433,107
January 202448632,303
December 202334031,817
November 202398831,477
October 202384430,489
September 202373329,645
August 202379028,912
July 202375228,122
June 202390227,370
May 202373126,468
April 202385425,737
March 202378424,883
February 202377024,099
January 202348923,329
December 202263022,840
November 202249622,210
October 202238921,714
September 202248221,325
August 202255820,843
July 202238820,285
June 202268119,897
May 202268019,216
April 202235218,536
March 20221,68818,184
February 202236316,496
January 202232916,133
December 202142615,804
November 202136415,378
October 202132315,014
September 20218914,691
August 202156114,602
July 202123014,041
June 202134213,811
May 202125913,469
April 202130113,210
March 202145612,909
February 202120912,453
January 202131512,244
December 202015511,929
November 202015411,774
October 202021011,620
September 20208311,410
August 20206511,327
July 202010811,262
June 202018411,154
May 202037010,970
April 202047010,600
March 202075610,130
February 20203849,374
January 20205918,990
December 20193458,399
November 20192348,054
October 20191637,820
September 20191997,657
August 2019937,458
July 20191267,365
June 20192897,239
May 20191796,950
April 20192286,771
March 20193816,543
February 20192626,162
January 20194285,900
December 20181995,472
November 20181445,273
October 2018865,129
September 20181015,043
August 2018444,942
July 20181624,898
June 20181384,736
May 20181644,598
April 20181984,434
March 20181904,236
February 20181164,046
January 20181153,930
December 2017243,815
November 2017403,791
October 20171123,751
September 2017423,639
August 2017713,597
July 20171513,526
June 20171003,375
May 2017413,275
April 2017863,234
March 2017483,148
February 2017553,100
January 20171443,045
December 2016282,901
November 2016102,873
October 201682,863
September 2016672,855
August 2016202,788
July 20161482,768
June 20161082,620
May 2016542,512
April 2016132,458
March 2016102,445
February 2016202,435
January 2016372,415
December 2015482,378
November 2015512,330
October 2015322,279
September 2015302,247
August 2015202,217
July 2015452,197
June 2015942,152
May 2015372,058
April 20151072,021
March 2015531,914
February 20152051,861
January 2015731,656
December 201461,583
November 201451,577
October 2014621,572
September 201481,510
August 201481,502
July 2014701,494
June 201411,424
May 2014941,423
April 2014171,329
March 2014121,312
February 2014301,300
January 2014111,270
December 2013191,259
November 201371,240
October 2013111,233
September 201371,222
August 201351,215
July 201301,210
June 201391,210
May 2013391,201
April 2013111,162
March 20131611,151
February 2013266990
January 2013377724
December 20120347
November 201225347
October 20129322
September 20120313
August 20120313
July 20120313
June 201227313
May 201230286
April 201240256
March 201238216
February 201232178
January 2012146146

What is not counted

Notes on method

Period

The page starts on 17 January 2012, when the rebellion in northern Mali began. Since then jihadist groups have spread to Burkina Faso and Niger: JNIM, which is linked to al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State Sahel Province fight the governments and each other.

Parties

Government forces and their allies include the armies of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and the foreign forces that fought alongside them, such as those of France until its withdrawal in 2022 and 2023 and of Russia since 2021.

Source

The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) at Uppsala University records organised violence event by event, from news media, reports of humanitarian and human rights organisations and other sources. For every event it gives a best estimate of the number of deaths, with a low and a high estimate. This page adds up the best estimates.

The final data run to the end of 2025 (GED 26.1). The months of 2026 come from the monthly candidate data (26.01.26.06, 26.0.7, 26.0.8), which UCDP revises when it publishes the final version.

Groups

For each event UCDP records the deaths among each of the two parties, the civilians killed and the deaths it cannot assign. On this page the parties named in the breakdown are shown separately; all other organised armed groups are combined.

Comparability

UCDP counts in the same way in every war, so its figures can be compared between wars better than counts by the parties. They are usually lower than estimates that include indirect deaths, and they can differ from figures published by governments or armed groups.

Citation

Davies, Pettersson and Öberg (2026), Journal of Peace Research; Sundberg and Melander (2013), Journal of Peace Research 50(4); Hegre, Croicu, Eck and Högbladh (2020), Research and Politics. UCDP is funded through DEMSCORE (Swedish Research Council, grant 2021-00162). The data are licensed under CC BY 4.0.