Holes in the ground, clods of earth next to headstones, dislocated concrete outlines: the Thiaroye military cemetery near Dakar bears the marks of recent excavations meant to unearth the truth behind a WWII-era massacre by French colonial forces.

In November 1944 around 1,600 soldiers from several west African countries were sent to the Thiaroye camp after being captured by Germany while fighting for France.

Discontent soon mounted over unpaid back pay and unmet demands that they be treated on a par with white soldiers.

On December 1, French forces opened fire on them.

The circumstances surrounding the massacre, the number of riflemen killed and their place of burial all remain unclear.

An AFP team recently visited the camp’s cemetery, where archaeologists are conducting landmark excavations to find and examine the remains of those interred there.

Rows of 202 graves, marked with white headstones and cement demarcations, are covered with shells.

It is not known who exactly is in all the graves, or if there are even bodies at each marker. The researchers have so far only been able to excavate a very small percentage of them.

The cemetery was created in 1926 by colonial France to bury African soldiers. Some researchers believe that riflemen killed in the Thiaroye massacre were buried there.

Unearthed burial containers, since covered in blue plastic, bear testament to the archaeologists’ work.

Senegal alleges it was difficult to access the French colonial archives to study the massacre in full.

This is why Colonel Saliou Ngom, the director of the Senegalese army’s archives and historical heritage, believes it was necessary to “make the underground” speak.

The archaeologists have so far carried out their initial excavations under one of two large baobabs, enormous trees that can indicate the site of buried bodies.

The baobab is “a calcareous tree, that is one that likes limestone”, history and geography professor Mamadou Kone, technical adviser to the Armed Forces Museum, told AFP.

“Where there are bones, there are often baobabs”, he said.

Also Read | Senegal seeks answers 80 years after French massacre of African soldiers

Clues on violence

The researchers submitted an official report on October 16 to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye describing the massacre as “premeditated” and covered up, with a death toll that had been grossly underestimated.

The French colonial authorities at the time of the massacre said up to 70 World War II riflemen were killed.

But the researchers said the most credible estimates put the figure closer to 300 to 400, with some of the men buried in the Thiaroye cemetery.

One of the archaeologists who led the dig, Moustapha Sall, explained that seven graves were excavated out of a first group of 34.

“Archaeologists found seven skeletons. This is a very important step in the search for historical truth,” Colonel Ngom said.

According to Mr. Sall, “one skeleton contains a bullet in its left side in the location of the heart.”

“Others lack a spine, ribs or skull. Some individuals are buried with iron chains on their shins,” he added.

“This means they suffered violence.”

The graves where the bodies are located are more recent than the remains themselves, Mr. Sall added.

“One hypothesis is that the graves were made after the (initial) burials or that it was staged to make is appear they had been properly buried,” Mr. Sall said.

Also Read | Is France’s influence in West Africa over?

Genetic, ballistic studies

The next key step, Mr. Sall explained, will be taking DNA samples to help determine the individuals’ origins.

“The preliminary results do not allow us to answer all the questions,” he said.

Ballistics experts will additionally provide information on the military equipment, he added.

Meanwhile the Senegalese government has ordered ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to better explore the depths of the cemetery’s subsoil.

“We have been searching for the historical truth for 81 years”, Colonel Ngom said. “If the subsoil provides us with (this truth) there is nothing more significant”.

President Faye, who has committed to preserving the soldiers’ memory, has announced he has approved “the continuation of archaeological excavations at all sites likely to contain mass graves”.

In November 2024, as the atrocity’s 80th anniversary approached, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that French colonial forces had committed a “massacre” in Thiaroye.

Published – October 28, 2025 12:47 pm IST

A retired soldier attends the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of a massacre of African soldiers who fought for France during WW2 and were gunned down by French troops in 1944 for demanding fair treatment and pay in Thiaroye, Senegal on December 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Senegal on Sunday (December 1, 2024) commemorated the 80th anniversary of a massacre of African soldiers who fought for France during World War Two and were gunned down by French troops in 1944 for demanding fair treatment and payment on their return.

The West African country has long demanded its former coloniser take responsibility, officially apologise and properly investigate the massacre that took place in Thiaroye, a fishing village on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital Dakar.

The event, which renewed these demands, comes as France is losing influence over its former African colonies, many of which have turned to Russia for security instead.

“The riflemen sacrificed everything. They gave of their youth, they gave of their blood, they gave of their flesh for freedom and world peace,” Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye told guests and reporters.

Accounts of the massacre vary, as does the death toll, which French ex-president Francois Hollande raised to at least 70 from 35 during a visit to Thiaroye in 2014. Historians say hundreds may have died in the confrontation with colonial authorities.

The ceremony, which France’s foreign affairs minister attended alongside other African heads of state, started with a visit to the Thiaroye military cemetery to lay flowers.

A printed guide to the ceremony described the “horrific repression” of members of the Senegalese infantry unit, who were surrounded and gunned down for requesting due compensation.

A few days before the commemoration, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote a public letter to his Senegalese counterpart Mr. Faye in which he referred to the killings as a “massacre”.

Mr. Faye said Macron’s acknowledgement was a significant step in the process of rehabilitating the honour and dignity of victims.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a speech his country had recognised that on that day, “a chain of events was set in motion that led to a massacre”.

Gaspard Mbaye, head of an association dedicated to the soldiers’ memory, told Reuters he was disappointed because he expected more from the French government.

“They continue to conceal the truth and try to divert attention,” Mr. Mbaye said.