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France has for the primary time acknowledged that its troopers carried out a “massacre” in Senegal wherein dozens – maybe tons of – of West African troops have been killed virtually precisely 80 years in the past, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has mentioned.
Those who died have been a part of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit, recruited firstly of World War Two to assist defend France, the colonial energy.
On returning to Senegal in 1944 many protested about their pay, historians say, which led to a brutal response.
The killings have been a degree of rivalry between Senegal and France and their reported acknowledgement by Paris comes as Faye is speaking a couple of reassessment of the nations’ relationship.
Those who joined the Tirailleurs Senegalais not solely got here from Senegal but additionally from throughout France’s African empire, together with what’s now Mali, Guinea, Niger, Benin and Chad.
They have been despatched to France and plenty of have been captured by Germany throughout its profitable invasion of the nation. Liberated in 1944, the troopers have been taken again to Senegal and housed within the Thiaroye navy camp, 15km (9 miles) from the capital, Dakar.
Even earlier than leaving France, many had been complaining concerning the pay they have been set to obtain and the truth that it was not the identical as different French troops, historian Armelle Mabon says. Anger over the cash grew as soon as at Thiaroye, which the colonial authority seen as a mutiny.
On 1 December, the French violently introduced an finish to the protests. At the time it was mentioned that 35 of the tirailleurs have been killed, however some have put the dying toll as excessive as 400.
“France must recognise that on that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded their full legitimate wages be paid, triggered a chain of events that resulted in a massacre,” the AP information company quotes a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron to Faye as saying.
Previously, in 2014, then President François Hollande had referred to as what occurred a “bloody repression”.
Senegal is because of mark the eightieth anniversary of the shootings on Sunday.
In his response to Macron’s letter, Faye is quoted by AP as saying that his French counterpart’s acknowledgement would “open the door” so the “whole truth about this painful event of Thiaroye” could be found.
“We have long sought closure on this story and we believe that, this time, France’s commitment will be full, frank and collaborative,” he added.
He additionally indicated that he could be asking for an apology.
Sixty-four years after Senegal’s independence, France nonetheless has a navy presence within the nation, however talking to the AFP information company on Thursday, Faye, who was elected in March, mentioned that France ought to shut its base there.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” he’s quoted as saying.
Additional reporting by Mamadou Faye in Dakar.
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