Burkina Faso has suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio networks from broadcasting for two weeks, for transmitting a rights report blaming the army for the attacks on civilians, according to the authorities.
The International NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) had on Thursday, said that soldiers in Burkina Faso’s jihadist-hit north had killed at least 223 villagers, including 56 children, in two revenge attacks on February 25.
The communications authority (CSC) had announced on Thursday evening:
“The programmes of these two international radio networks broadcasting from Ouagadougou have been suspended for a period of two weeks.”
It stated that the decision had been taken because BBC Africa and the VOA aired and also published a report on their digital platforms “accusing the Burkina army of abuses against the civilian population.”
The body also said that the transmitted report contained “hasty and biased declarations without tangible proof against the Burkinabe army.”
Meanwhile, Burkina Faso has yet to make any comments on the report.
Since 2015, the West African nation has been battered by a jihadist insurgency that crept in from neighbouring Mali.
