Residents and Survivors Say 136 Killed in Burkina Faso Massacre, Blaming Army

Residents and survivors of a massacre in a Burkina Faso village said on Saturday 136 people including women and infants were killed, blaming the country’s security forces for the April 20 attack.
A prosecutor last week launched a probe into the massacre which took place in the northern village of Karma and surrounding areas, following reports that people wearing the uniforms of the Burkinabe armed forces had killed around 60 civilians.
The attack, one of the worst on civilians as the country battles armed militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, has prompted condemnations, and calls for an investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Office.
Burkina Faso is one of several West African nations struggling with a violent Islamist insurgency that has spread from neighbouring Mali over the past decade, killing thousands and displacing over two million.
The country’s military government has launched a large-scale offensive which it says is aimed at reclaiming swathes of territory controlled by armed insurgents.