Much of northern Burkina Faso has been the frontline of an insurgency waged by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara since 2015, with these groups intensifying their attacks on civilians seen as sympathetic to the government since 2019.

[1] These jihadist groups had been known to invade towns in Ouahigouya Department, including Karma and Aorema, multiple times over the past few years demanding zakat.

[3] In February 2023, seven children and teenagers were executed by Burkinabe soldiers in Ouahigouya Department, and videos of the incidents were recovered by French newspaper Libération.

[5] The commune of Barga is made up of around 20 villages, and became a conflict zone between government forces and those of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Burkinabe affiliate Ansarul Islam.

[6][3] Five days before the massacre, between 40 and 75 militants from the pro-government Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) were killed in a jihadist attack in Aorema, located close to Karma.

"[3] At 7:30 am on April 20, over a hundred Burkinabe soldiers emblazoned with BIR3 patches, signifying that they were part of the 3rd Battalion of the Rapid Intervention Brigades, entered Karma on motorcycles and pickups.

[10] On April 25, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that at least 150 civilians had gone missing, and that the attack was carried out by armed men in uniform who were allegedly members of the defense and security forces, accompanied by paramilitary auxiliaries.

[3] The Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities (CISC), a Burkinabe human rights organization, put the death toll at 136, including 50 women and 21 children.