France, March 20 -- Several social media accounts - with names such as Scoop Africa, La Depeche africaine and La Voix du Faso - have been impersonating media outlets in order to discredit the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - the three members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the military and political pact formed in September 2023.

In a segment shown on Burkina Faso's state television (RTB) the day after the start of the war initiated by the United States and Israel against Iran on 1 March, a presenter announced that the head of the ruling junta, Ibrahim Traore, had decided to deploy "two infantry battalions to Tehran" to support Iran.

This video, which appears to be a genuine evening new...