International News
Survivors Of Burkina Village Massacre Recount Hours-Long Nightmare
Survivors of a massacre in northern Burkina Faso have described an hours-long ordeal in which men in army uniforms carried out brutal and arbitrary killings, including women who were carrying their babies on their backs.
The bloodbath unfolded on April 20 in the village of Karma, a part of the country that has been badly hit by jihadists, but it was only officially disclosed on Sunday.
Regional prosecutor Lamine Kabore told AFP “about 60 people” were killed by assailants dressed in army uniforms.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday, survivors and local residents said more than 100 died, in a massacre that lasted hours.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, meanwhile said in a press release that according to reports “at least 150 civilians” may have been killed.
The survivors said that at around 7:30 am last Thursday, the village of some 400 people was surrounded by a “large number of men in uniform,” arriving on motorbikes, pickup trucks, armoured vehicles “and a tank”.
Some villagers went out to welcome them, happy to see that “these soldiers” had arrived, but the mood swiftly turned to terror as the killings began, the statement said.
“Several people were shot down where they stood without any form of process… women, children and the elderly,” it said.
People who tried to hide were ordered to come out, as assailants smashed down doors and set fire to storage buildings
“Wounded people who tried to flee were pursued and killed… and some women were executed as they were carrying their babies on their back,” the survivors
The killing lasted until around 2:00 pm when the soldiers moved off in a column towards Dinguiri, a village lying to the north of Karma, they said.
The community said the dead were still lying in the open as of Tuesday. They had tried to go to the village to bury the bodies on Monday morning, but the army had blocked off the road.
The massacre occurred a week after 34 defence volunteers and six soldiers were killed by suspected jihadists at Aorema, a village about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Karma.
Following that attack, Burkina Faso’s military junta declared a “general mobilisation” to give the state “all necessary means” to combat a string of bloody attacks blamed on jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
UN call
Kabore said he was investigating the killings and had given instructions for anyone involved to be detained.
Shamdasani called for a fast and rigorous inquiry.
“This investigation must be prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial and must result in credible prosecutions if such gross violations are to end,” she said.
Karma lies in a gold-rich area that has drawn an influx of illegal miners, close to the border with Mali — the epicentre of an 11-year-old jihadist insurgency that has rocked the fragile Sahel.
Burkina Faso has been hit especially hard, and its poorly-equipped military has been battered by a ruthless, mobile foe.
The violence has left more than 10,000 people dead, according to non-governmental aid groups, and displaced two million people from their homes.
Anger within the military at the mounting toll sparked two coups in 2022, the most recent of which was in September.
The latest strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has declared a goal of recapturing 40 percent of the country’s territory which is controlled by jihadists.
The FIFA World Cup group stage has concluded, with the Netherlands securing first place in Group F and Japan finishing second. According to the knockout stage bracket, the top two teams from Group F will face the top two teams from Group E.
Two more Round of 32 matchups have been confirmed: Brazil vs. Japan and Netherlands vs. Morocco. The first Round of 16 matchup was announced yesterday, featuring South Africa vs. Canada.
Julian Nagelsmann defended question marks surrounding Germany’s commitment during their defeat by Ecuador, telling journalists: “Please stop the nonsense!”
Germany, already guaranteed top spot in Group E, were beaten 2-1 in their final group outing, as their opponents came from behind to snatch all three points at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Nagelsmann’s side saw their 11-match winning streak brought to an end, while they have now failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last nine games at the finals, equalling their longest streak along with their opening nine matches across 1934 and 1954.
And since the start of the 1998 World Cup, this was just the second time Germany had lost a game at the tournament in which they opened the scoring (W25 D2) following a 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022.
While not impressed by his players’ performance, he was quick to reject claims it was due to a lack of commitment, with their place in the knockout phase already secured.
“Please stop the nonsense, honestly!” Nagelsmann told reporters. “Didn’t the boys want to go full throttle?
“Of course, we made different changes than we might have done in moments when we urgently needed another goal.
“But we can’t tell any player that he didn’t step on the gas, that’s far too striking for me.
“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure, instead of suddenly switching positions too much. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions.
“We deliberately made a lot of changes. You could see that we also had a few tired legs. You can’t blame anyone for the fact that everything is a little slower and takes longer. We trust every player in the squad, and have to give the players the chance to show that.”
Coincidentally, it was in New York that Germany crashed out of the 1994 World Cup after surrendering a lead, losing 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria at the Giants Stadium.
Joshua Kimmich, who won his 113th cap to move to joint-eighth with Philipp Lahm on his nation’s all-time list, conceded the four-time world champions were worthy losers against Ecuador.
“We started well, but then we gave the ball away too cheaply and kept inviting them on,” he added.
“We made it easy for them and let them grow into the game. In the second half, the defeat was deserved.”
Relegated Burnley and West Ham will meet on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Sunday, 16 August.
The Clarets finished 19th in the top flight last season and will host the Hammers, who went down on the final day.
Fellow relegated side Wolves will play the league’s curtain-raiser against Blackburn at Molineux on Friday, 14 August.
Elsewhere, Southampton, who will start the season on minus four points after the Spygate scandal, travel to Watford on the opening weekend and promoted Cardiff welcome Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, 17 August.
League One champions Lincoln start the season at beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough on Saturday, 15 August and third tier play-off final winners Bolton begin the campaign with a home game against Preston on the same day.
The Championship season starts a week after clubs play their first competitive fixture in the first round of the Carabao Cup and one week before the Premier League gets under way.
Burnley, West Ham and Wolves will all be looking to secure Premier League promotions at the first time of asking.
The Clarets have now been relegated from or promoted to the top flight in each of the past four seasons.
However, now less than two months out from the start of the season they remain without a manager following the departure of Scott Parker in May.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has remained despite them dropping out of the top flight after 14 seasons.
The Portuguese led Wolves to the Championship title in his one previous season managing at this level in 2017-18.
Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League in 2025-26 and sacked boss Rob Edwards earlier this month to bring in Cesar Peixoto.
They have bolstered their squad with former England defender Kieran Trippier and returning Mexico striker Raul Jimenez.
However, all three will be aware that in both of the past two seasons a team relegated from the top tier has suffered a second successive demotion to League One.
Former Premier League champions Leicester City went the same way as Luton Town had in 2024-25.
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