Burkina Faso bans more foreign media outlets
By Wedaeli Chibelushi
Burkina Faso has suspended yet more foreign media outlets over their coverage of a report accusing its army of killing 223 civilians.
The report, by US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said it believed the the massacre in February was in retaliation for villagers aiding armed Islamists.
The West African nation’s military government has denied the allegation.
They have already suspended the BBC and US broadcaster Voice of America for reporting on the HRW’s publication.
Burkina Faso is ruled by a military junta, which seized power in a coup in 2022, promising to end the Islamist insurgency.
The violence has however continued to escalate, with more than a third of Burkina Faso controlled by jihadist groups.
On Sunday, Burkina Faso’s communications regulator said broadcasts from French network TV5Monde would also be suspended for two weeks and access to its website blocked, state-owned media reported.
The websites of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, French newspapers Le Monde and Ouest-France, British newspaper the Guardian, and African agencies APA and Ecofin have also been barred until further notice.
