France has for the first time acknowledged that its soldiers carried out a “massacre” in Senegal in which dozens – perhaps hundreds – of West African troops were killed almost exactly 80 years ago, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has said.
Those who died were part of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit, recruited at the start of World War Two to help defend France, the colonial power.
On returning to Senegal in 1944 many protested about their pay, historians say, which led to a brutal response.
The killings have been a point of contention between Senegal and France and their reported acknowledgement by Paris comes as Faye is talking about a reassessment of the countries’ relationship.
Those who joined the Tirailleurs Senegalais not only came from Senegal but
