The military regime ruling Burkina Faso has decided to stop distributing Le Monde throughout the country after an article was published the day before.
“The government has decided with full responsibility to suspend all distribution media of the newspaper “Le Monde” in Burkina Faso from this Saturday, December 2, 2023,” wrote the government spokesman and Minister of Communications, Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, in a press release on Saturday evening.
The latter refers to a “tendant article” published on Friday on the Le Monde website about the bloody jihadist attack on a military base in the north of the country on Sunday, November 26, entitled “War propaganda rages in Burkina Faso.” after the jihadist attack on Djibo.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Burkina Faso is strengthening its alliance with Russia
According to the United Nations, forty civilians died in that attack, according to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, affiliated to al-Qaeda), while Burkinabe security sources said “some” soldiers were killed. The Burkina Faso Information Agency (AIB, official) assured that “more than 400 terrorists” were killed in the counteroffensive.
Several French media outlets suspended
“Contrary to what Le Monde newspaper vigorously claims, the Burkinabe government has never committed itself to propaganda logic in the war we are waging against terrorism,” assures Mr. Ouedraogo, affirming that Le World “is for their side has decided”. . The government was contacted about this jihadist attack on the Djibo base and did not respond to queries from Le Monde.
Several French media outlets have been suspended this year, led in this country since October 2022 by captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a coup. At the end of September, the monthly magazine Jeune Afrique was shut down after an article about tensions within the army was described as “false”.
The TV channels LCI and France 24 as well as the radio station RFI are also suspended, while the correspondents of the daily newspapers Le Monde and Libération were expelled from Ouagadougou in April.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “I loved Burkina Faso, the strength and resilience of its people…”: the letter from Sophie Douce, a journalist expelled from the country
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been caught in a spiral of violence by jihadist groups that has already affected neighboring countries Mali and Niger. According to the NGO Acled, which tracks victims of conflicts around the world, they have claimed more than 17,000 civilian and military lives in the past eight years, including more than 6,000 since the beginning of the year.
Captain Traoré’s regime has made fighting jihadist groups its priority, justifying the September 2022 coup with the poor results of his predecessor, Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who overthrew President Kaboré for the same reasons.
Also read: In Burkina Faso is Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the enigmatic president who opposes France