A human rights organization, residents and survivors reported that 136 civilians, including 50 women and 21 children, were massacred on April 20 in the village of Karma (north) by men wearing uniforms and insignia of the Burkina Faso army.

Burkina Faso’s military regime condemned the Karma attack in a statement released on April 27, but without giving an official account.

Earlier, a prosecutor in Waiguia, Lamine Kabore, announced that he had been informed by the gendarmerie that in the village of Karma, in Yatega province, near the border with Mali, “some sixty people were killed by men wearing the uniforms of our armed forces” and had add investigation is underway.

A statement made public yesterday Saturday by residents and survivors said that the village of Karma was surrounded on the morning of April 20 by heavily armed men in military uniforms and insignia, who were riding motorcycles, open semi-trucks and armored vehicles. “The villagers initially rejoiced at her arrival, but the joy was dashed when (the soldiers) started firing,” according to the statement, which cited 136 dead and 9 wounded.

Human rights organization Collectif contre l’impunité et la stigmatisation des communautés (CISC) also reported that its members counted “136 bodies in Karma, among them 50 women and 21 children”. including infants executed with their mothers, in a statement obtained by AFP last Friday.

Other communities in the region were also attacked on April 20 by gunmen wearing army uniforms and insignia, the CISC added, citing six deaths in Digiri village, two in Mene and three on the road between Waiguya and Barga.

In Karma, “civilians were rounded up by the dozen and neighborhood by neighborhood” before “the order was given: ‘Kill them all,'” said CISC president Dauda Diallo, who was awarded the 2022 Martin Ennals Prize, the “Nobel” of of human rights.

She recalled that the massacres of civilians were committed a week after the deaths of six soldiers and 34 auxiliaries of the armed forces in an attack by alleged jihadists near the village of Aorema, about 15 kilometers from Waiguya.

“According to what survivors said, the perpetrators of the attack accused the residents of the village of Karma of providing shelter to members of terrorist organizations,” Mr. Diallo said.

The CISC “strongly condemns” the new massacre of civilians, he said, recalling that there have been reports of a series of killings of civilians by the military and auxiliaries of the armed forces during the fight against the jihadists.

He demanded that a “full and impartial investigation be carried out into these horrific crimes with civilian victims” and that “all those responsible and the moral perpetrators be brought to justice”, judging that “impunity opens the way to any possible deviation”, from the ” settlement of accounts’ as ‘massacres on a large scale’.

On Thursday, the military regime “strongly” condemned the “barbaric” attack in Karma and assured that it would follow “very closely the progress of the investigation” conducted by the Waiguya prosecutor to solve the case and hold those responsible “accountable”.

Yesterday, neither the army nor the military government responded when Reuters news agency asked them to comment on the residents’ and NGO’s announcements.

A representative of the residents, during a press conference in Waiguya, judged that the government’s announcement shows indifference and contempt for the residents of Karma village and sows confusion about the army’s responsibilities. “We, the residents and the survivors (…) have no doubt as to who is responsible. No one will fool us,” he insisted.

Burkina Faso, especially its northern part, has been frequently bloodied since 2015 by organizations that pledge allegiance to the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. They have spread from neighboring Mali and Niger; in total, more than 10,000 people, civilians and soldiers, have been killed, according to non-governmental organizations, and another two and a half million civilians have been displaced.