The military leaders of Burkina Faso and Niger said Saturday they would quit the G5 anti-jihadist force in Africa's Sahel region, the latest blow to the fight against insurgents in one of the world's most troubled zones.

Armed jihadist groups are holding at least 46 locations across Burkina Faso under siege in July, preventing access to food and drinking water and abducting women, Amnesty International said Thursday.

Burkina Faso's military government said Wednesday it had foiled a coup attempt the previous day, almost a year after the country's leader came to power in a coup himself.

France does not intend to cut cultural ties with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the culture minister, Rima Abdul-Malak said.

Burkina Faso's junta-led government said one of the country's most popular radio stations could resume broadcasting on Monday after being suspended for airing an interview deemed "insulting" to Niger's new military leaders.

Fifty-three members of the security forces have been killed in an attack by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on Tuesday.

Burkina Faso's junta-led government has suspended one of the country's most popular radio stations after it broadcast an interview deemed "insulting" to Niger's new military leaders.

Bursts of gunfire were heard early Tuesday in the centre of the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou near an airbase, an AFP journalist said.

The coup in Niger, the third in as many years to topple an elected leader in Africa's troubled Sahel, threatens to further hamper efforts against jihadist groups in the region, analysts say.

The military government of Burkina Faso has suspended a French television news channel, citing lack of objectivity and credibility in its reporting on the jihadist insurgency in the country. This move represents an escalation in the government's crackdown on foreign media, as tensions between Burkina Faso and its former colonizer, France, have intensified due to…

Jihadist-hit Burkina Faso is offering a reward of up to $300,000 for information leading to the capture or death of figures on a "terrorist" wanted list.

Twenty-one people, most of them members of the security forces, have been killed in Burkina Faso in attacks by suspected jihadists, security sources said on Wednesday.