Le Monde deplores the decision taken on Saturday, December 2, 202,3 by the government of Burkina Faso to suspend it from "all distribution media" following the publication the previous day of an article about a bloody attack in the north of the country carried out by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin).

This article entitled, "In Burkina Faso, the propaganda war rages on after the jihadist attack on Djibo" (which was not published in the English version of Le Monde), reports on the heavy toll of an offensive carried out by the terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda. According to the UN, 40 civilians died in the attack, while security sources in Burkina Faso reported "a few" soldiers killed.

Le Monde condemns the Burkinabe government's accusations that its work is "biased" and that it has "chosen sides," implying that it has sided with terrorist groups. These allegations are as false as they are intolerable.

Le Monde has done its job, impartially and independently. To produce this article, we contacted a wide range of sources – local, diplomatic, civilian, military and from organizations – in order to report as accurately as possible on the situation in Djibo, a town that has become inaccessible to the press. Burkina Faso's government was also contacted so that it could respond to our reporting and give its version of events on the ground, but as has been the case for almost a year now, it did not respond to our requests for interviews.

This suspension follows the expulsion of our correspondent from the country in April, without any official reason being given. It also follows that of numerous international media. At the end of September, the monthly magazine Jeune Afrique was suspended. French radio station RFI was suspended in December 2022 and television channels France 24 in March of this year and LCI in July.

The sanctions against Le Monde seem to reflect a desire on the part of the Burkinabe authorities to prevent the dissemination of independent information on the country's deteriorating security situation. The move comes 14 months after Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a coup d'état, promising a return to peace.