2023-04-29 19:28:56
According to eyewitnesses, far more people were killed than previously known in a massacre in a village in Burkina Faso. After the death toll was put at around 60 shortly following the April 20 attack by uniformed forces, survivors now reported a total of 136 civilians killed and nine injured.
In their statement on Saturday, they reiterated their position that the attackers were members of the country’s armed forces.
It is one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the West African country. Despite its gold deposits, Burkina Faso suffers from poverty. Parts of the country are under the control of militant Islamists, once morest whom the military government in turn uses armed force. The fighting has displaced nearly two million people and created a humanitarian crisis. In the Sahel, militant groups with ties to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State have been trying to stir up ethnic and religious conflicts for years.
The villagers’ statement on Saturday said that on the morning of April 20, the village of Karma in the north of the country was surrounded by heavily armed men in military uniforms. They approached the village on motorcycles, pickup trucks and armored vehicles. The villagers first greeted the newcomers happily and were then unexpectedly attacked with shots.
The background to the massacre initially remained unclear. The government had condemned the incident. The public prosecutor had announced an investigation.
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