The publication director of the private Burkinabe daily Aujourd'hui au Faso was arrested Tuesday in Ouagadougou, the day after the kidnapping of two journalists and three magistrates, his media outlet announced.

In Burkina Faso, the military regime, which emerged from a coup d'état in September 2022 and is led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, is regularly accused of repressing figures considered hostile to the government.

Some are forcibly mobilized to fight the jihadists, who have been undermining the country for around ten years.

In recent months, the government has released around ten people who were kidnapped or arrested and then forcibly mobilized, including journalists, civil society leaders and those close to politicians, before the arrests resumed.

"The publication director of the daily Aujourd'hui au Faso, Zowenmanogo Dieudonné Zoungrana, was arrested at his home on the morning of Tuesday, October 14, by four individuals in civilian clothes claiming to be ANR (National Intelligence Agency) agents," the private daily announced on its Facebook page.

"After a few exchanges, he was taken to an unknown destination in a vehicle," the media outlet said, adding that it "does not know the reasons for this arrest."

Founder and editor of the daily newspaper Aujourd'hui au Faso, Dieudonné Zoungrana took part in a major interview with Captain Ibrahim Traoré at the end of September, conducted to commemorate the junta's three years in power.

On Monday, the editorial director of L'Observateur Paalga, Ousseni Ilboudo, and the deputy editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Le Pays, Michel Nana, were arrested and taken to unknown destinations, according to sources close to the agency.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced "a worrying resurgence in the arrests of journalists" in a statement.

RSF "deplores these kidnappings, which have no known basis and target key figures in Burkinabe journalism. The organization calls on the authorities to break their culpable silence and release all detained journalists," said Sadibou Marong, the NGO's director for sub-Saharan Africa, in a statement sent to AFP.

Burkina Faso ranks 105th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2025 press freedom index.

Since Friday, three magistrates from the Ouagadougou Court of Appeal have been "kidnapped" or are "missing," according to a judicial source.

In addition, dozens of officers, including former gendarmerie chief of staff Evrard Somda, have been arrested over the past year, accused of "conspiracy" or "attempting to destabilize republican institutions."