Burkina Faso’s military junta suspended Voice of America broadcasts for three months over its coverage of militant attacks in the country and neighboring Mali, the state news agency reported, as part of the latest measure targeting media freedom in the country.
The media regulator of Burkina Faso stated that a broadcast of VOA broadcast in September was intended to “knowing morals” of the armed forces of the two countries, reported the Burkina Information Agency (AIB) late Monday.
Since taking power in 2022, the junta in the conflict-ridden West African country has been accused of targeting journalists and activists. It suspended several media organizations and conscripted many critics into the armed forces.
The VOA and the BBC were suspended for two weeks earlier this year for their coverage of a Human Rights Watch on a massacre of civilians by the country’s armed forces. VOA could not immediately be reached for comment on this new suspension.
The news agency said the media regulator had criticized the show “Washington Forum” from VOA for its reporting on a rare attack on a military training camp and airport in the capital of Mali. The attack, carried out by the militant group JNIM, linked to Al-Qaidaled to the death of several soldiers.
The regulator also criticized the channel’s coverage of an August attack in central Burkina Faso, in which at least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed, according to the AIB.
Burkina Faso has been wracked by violence that pitted militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group against state-backed forces for a decade, leading to the deaths of more than 20,000 people, according to l’Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Projecta non-profit group based in the United States.
Both sides have been accused of targeting civilians caught in the crossfire, displacing more than 2 million people, more than half of whom are children.
