The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS-CEDIAW) strongly condemns the killing of at least 145 civilians by the army in Burkina Faso in Serma locality.
The regional organization added in its statement, “The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States strongly condemns these cowardly and barbaric attacks being committed against the civilian population, and notes that the targeting of communities can be treated as genocide in accordance with the rulings of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Civil society organizations and survivors of the attack in the Karma region of Burkina Faso confirmed that gunmen who wanted the uniforms of the Burkinabian defense and security forces and mounted army armored vehicles and motorcycles killed at least 100 civilians in that area and burned homes “on April 20, 2023
Statement of the citizens of Karma where the attack took place
Other sources indicate that the patrol that carried out this massacre was joint between Malian and Burkinabian soldiers on the Malian-Burkinabi border.
The reaction of the army command in Ouagadougou
As for the army commanders in Ouagadougou, they kept silent about this incident, and they did not issue any statement condemning the efforts or even national mourning until this day, April 27, a full week after the attack; Where the Burkina Faso Military Staff issued a statement strongly condemning this attack and announced the opening of a transparent investigation into the incident and mourned the dead and called for the recovery of the wounded.
