France 24 earlier this month aired an interview with Yezid Mebarek, also known as Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi, who claimed the title of "emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" in 2020 after a French raid killed his predecessor.
On March 6, France 24 broadcast written replies given by al-Annabi to 17 questions posed by the news channel's specialist on jihadist questions, Wassim Nasr.
"By opening its antennas to the head of AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), France 24 not only acts as a communications agency for these terrorists but also offers ... legitimacy to terrorist actions and hate speech," the junta spokesman said, referring to a March 6 interview with AQIM head Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi.
"Therefore the government has decided... to suspend sine die the diffusion [broadcast] of France 24 programs on all national territory," spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said.
In December, the Burkina junta suspended Radio France Internationale (RFI), which belongs to the same France Medias Monde group as France 24, accusing the radio station of emitting a "message of intimidation" attributed to a "terrorist chief".
Both RFI and France 24, which cover African affairs closely and are popular in francophone nations, have been suspended in neighboring Mali, which is also run by a military junta fighting jihadist forces.
The military government in Ouagadougou said it would continue to "defend the vital interests of our people against anyone who acts as a loudspeaker for terrorist acts and the divisive hate speech of these armed groups."
France Medias Monde, which operates France 24, was not immediately available for comment on Burkina Faso's move.
This report was sourced from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.