Burkina Faso's junta suspends VOA over insurgency comments

8/10/2024 18:54

        Burkina Faso's junta has suspended U.S.-funded broadcaster Voice of America for three months over comments about a jihadist insurgency in West Africa's Sahel region, and temporarily banned local news outlets from using any international media reports, authorities said late on Monday.
        
        Military leaders who seized power in a September 2022 coup - the second that year - have become increasingly intolerant of criticism amid worsening insecurity despite promises to quash an Islamist insurgency.
        
        The superior council for communication (CSC) accused Voice of America (VOA) of demoralising troops in Burkina Faso and neighbouring Mali in a discussion on Sept. 19 that was also broadcast by a private local radio station.