DAKAR, Senegal (AP) —
Local journalists in Africa’s Sahel region are facing increasing security risks, a media freedom group said Tuesday, as the region has been battered by extremist attacks and military coups in recent years.
Since November last year, at least two journalists from local radio stations have been killed and two people kidnapped by armed groups in Mali and Chad, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement calling for protection of local journalists.
“These crimes once again illustrate the deteriorating security situation facing journalists working in the Sahel,” said Anne Bocandé, editor-in-chief of Reporters Without Borders.
“They are still present in these areas, where no other information professional has access anymore,” she added.
Three countries in the Sahel, an arid strip of land south of the Sahara in Africa, have been ravaged by coups in recent years. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are now ruled by military leaders who seized power by force and have promised to provide greater security for their citizens.
But the security situation in the Sahel has deteriorated since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and a record number of civilians killed by both Islamist fighters and government forces. In the first six months of this year, 3,064 civilians have been killed in the violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a 25 percent increase from the previous six months.
Meanwhile, the ruling juntas have cracked down on political dissidents and journalists. Earlier this year, the Malian government banned the media from reporting on the activities of political parties and associations. Burkina Faso suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio stations for reporting on a mass killing of civilians by the country’s armed forces.
At least three journalists disappeared in Burkina Faso in June under suspicious circumstances, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
