The transitional military government in Burkina Faso on Saturday suspended “all distribution methods” of French Newspaper Le Monde after an article on a deadly jihadist attack in the north, in the latest measure countering foreign reports about security issues in the country.
“The government has decided to suspend all distribution methods of the newspaper Le Monde in Burkina Faso starting from Saturday, December 2, 2023,” Communication Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a statement.
He criticised a “biased article”, referring to a story published on Le Monde’s website on Friday about a bloody jihadist attack on a military base in Djibo on November 26.
The United Nations says at least 40 civilians were killed in the attack claimed by The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, while Burkinabe security sources spoke of a “few” military deaths, and many sources questioned the claims of civilian deaths as the military base was located some distance away from any civilian settlement.
“Contrary to what the newspaper Le Monde peremptorily claims, the Burkinabe government has never trapped itself in a propaganda mindset in the war we are waging against terrorism,” Ouedraogo said.
Le Monde “has chosen its side”, he added.
The Burkinabe authorities in recent months have suspended the French TV outlets LCI and France24 as well as Radio France Internationale and the magazine Jeune Afrique.
The correspondents of the French newspapers Liberation and Le Monde have also been expelled.
