Germany acknowledges it committed ‘genocide’ in Namibia

Germany has officially acknowledged that it committed a "genocide" against Herero and Nama people in today’s Namibia at the start of 20th century.

"We will now also officially refer to these events as what they were from today's perspective: a genocide," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday.

Some 60,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama people were murdered by German colonial troops in southwestern Africa between 1904 and 1908.

Berlin’s move to recognize these crimes as a "genocide" came after over five years of negotiations between Germany and Namibia to address their difficult history.