OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso has suspended the services of BBC and Voice of America radio networks after they aired a rights report blaming the army of the country for attacks on civilians in its battle against jihadists.
The British and US broadcasters are the latest international media outlets to be targeted since Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in the country in September 2022 after a military coup.
Burkina’s communications authority, CSC has announced that the programmes of these two international radio networks have been suspended for two weeks.
The authority said the decision had been taken because BBC Africa and the VOA had aired a report blaming the Burkina army for abuses against the civilian population.
The CSC termed the report hasty and biased against the army of Burkina Faso without tangible proof.
International NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has claimed that soldiers in Burkina Faso’s north had killed at least 223 villagers, including 56 children, in two attacks on February 25.
The African country has been battling attacks from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Islamic State since a jihadist insurgency came in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.
Since then, around 20,000 people have been killed in Burkina Faso and around two million displaced.
UN expresses concern
The United Nations Human Rights office has expressed concern about the suspension.
UN spokesperson Marta Hurtado said restrictions on media freedom must immediately end.
The spokesman added freedom of information and freedom of expression are crucial for all societies, and even more in Burkina Faso.
The CSC has said it ordered the internet service providers to suspend access to the sites and other digital platforms of the BBC and VOA in the territory of the African state.
Burkina Faso has already targeted a number of French media outlets with bans, suspensions, or the expulsion of foreign correspondents.
