BURKINABÉ CALL OUT U.S. HYPOCRISY

Several hundred protesters gathered on 3 May outside the US embassy in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, expressing anger and discontent with Washington for recently criticising the African state's military leadership.

A joint statement by the United States and Britain on 29 April expressed 'grave concern' over a Human Rights Watch report that military forces killed hundreds of civilians in February in the country's north. The government has denied the allegation.

Waving Burkinabé, Russian and North Korean flags, protesters accused the US of a double standard, pointing to about 500,000 people killed in the US war on Iraq and US financial and military support for Israel's onslaught in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.

Burkina Faso's military government, which seized power in a 2022 coup, has further defied the West by embracing Russia as a partner to secure the border zones where armed militants had controlled territory.