Analyst Tackles French Media Over Discrediting Reports On Burkina Faso’s Army

A renowned international political observer and analyst, Ampah Kwa, has claimed that the French media was fighting the Burkina Faso Army in the information space.

Kwa lamented that journalists from a government-owned media in France have continued to discredit the Burkinabe military in the articles they continue to churn out.

Speaking further, he said: “While the soldiers of the Sahel states are fighting on the ground against terrorism, the French media are fighting against the AGS armies in the information space.

“Journalists from France’s main governmental media (RFI, France 24, Humanite, etc.) regularly produce articles aiming to discredit the militaries in Mali, Burkina and Niger. In addition, this campaign is also carried out on the renowned social networks Facebook and Twitter.”

Doubting the unverified report, he affirmed: “Over the last week, Burkina Faso has been the target of such activities by the French media groups. Thus, articles were published accusing the Burkinabe army of crimes against civilians in the Comonjari region on the border with Niger. The unverified information spread in the French media and on Facebook as well. And the journalist of France 24, so-called “jihadists’ main spokesman”, Wassim Nasr, published a post on the subject on his Twitter.

“Is it necessary to mention the widely publicized interview with the Emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi), Abu Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, broadcast by France 24 in March 2023? It is worth noting that journalist Wassim Nasr is known for his ‘insider’ information on jihadist activities in the Sahel.

“Thus, for the moment, the Burkinabe army is under fire of French fakes, while the military of Ouagadougou is trying to restore security in the country and get rid of the terrorists who have spread throughout the region thanks to the French intervention and the co-operation of the Paris military with the insurgents.

“As a reminder, such a campaign was once waged against the Malian military when the transitional authorities, led by Assimi Goyta, decided to break relations with Elysée. At that time, the French media wrote a huge amount of content aimed at discrediting the Malian army (alleged crimes in Hombori, Moura, Gossi and other cases).”

Faulting the continuous action of France against Burkina Faso, he said, “Today, Paris keeps working hard to destabilize the Sahelian countries in news space and on the ground, which have directly stated that they no longer want to cooperate with the former metropole, as the latter has brought nothing but economic, political instability and insecurity.”