Burkina Faso suspends BBC, VOA radio broadcasts over killings coverage

FILE PHOTO: A child who fled with his parents from attacks of armed militants in the Sahel region watches a woman on a bicycle at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kaya, Burkina Faso November 23, 2020. Picture taken November 23, 2020. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

(Reuters) - Burkina Faso has suspended the radio broadcasts of BBC Africa and the U.S-funded Voice of America (VOA) for two weeks over their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings, authorities said late on Thursday.

In the report based on its own investigation, the watchdog said that the West African country's military summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, in February as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants.