French radio and television stations will no longer broadcast in Mali.
Mali said suspended a statement on Thursday that it was taking the move because both stations had reported on allegations that Malian forces had killed numerous people in recent months, according to the UN's Michelle Bachelet and the rights group Human Rights Watch.
Boakyewaa Lawrencia 
After accusing two French stations of publishing "false claims," Mali's military rulers have decided to take them off the air.
For an uncertain period, RFI radio and France 24 television, which are funded by Mali's former colonial ruler France, would be unavailable in Mali.
Mali said suspended a statement on Thursday that it was making the move because both stations had reported on allegations that Malian forces had killed numerous people in recent months, according to the UN's Michelle Bachelet and the rights group Human Rights Watch.
Col Abdoulaye Maga, a spokesman for the Mali government, claimed: "these baseless charges" were made in RFI reports on the 14th and 15th of March, in which alleged victims of abuses allegedly committed by the Malian army and the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner were given the floor.
The state-owned holding company France Médias Monde, which owns France 24 and RFI, said it "deplores this decision" and "reiterates its commitment to freedom of information and the professionalism and neutrality of its journalists."
