Waving Russian and Burkinabè flags, the demonstrators, mostly traders and workers in the private sector, chanted anti-imperialist slogans and protested "against interference in the internal affairs of Burkina Faso" in front of the embassy, which was protected by a cordon of riot police.

Washington and London said they were "deeply concerned" on Monday after the publication of an HRW report accusing the Burkinabè army, which is fighting armed terrorist groups, of having "executed at least 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in two villages on 25 February".

The United States and the United Kingdom called on the authorities to "conduct a thorough investigation".

"We came to send a message to the Americans to stop these accusations against our armed forces who are defending the country at the cost of their lives," the spokesperson for the pan-Africanist federation "Burkind Faangf meenga [liberation]", Mahamadou Ouédraogo, who led the demonstration which ended in the middle of the afternoon, told AFP.

#AES État du Burkina Faso 🇧🇫#Communiqué_Conjoint_USA_UK #Avertissement_aux_USA_UK
Ouagadougou, 03.05.2024

Les destin des peuples sans courage, c'est d'être dominés et exploités éternellement.
Les vaillants peuples et les courageuses autorités de l'#AES ont pris leur destin en… pic.twitter.com/eNch3izsc1

— M.PORGO (@rafayaporgo) May 3, 2024

Burkina Faso, which has been ruled by the military since a coup, denounced the HRW report on Saturday, saying it "firmly rejects and condemns such unfounded accusations".

The authorities have suspended several foreign media outlets, including the BBC and Voice of America, as well as the French-language television channel TV5 Monde and foreign news websites, criticising them for broadcasting the HRW report.

The military regime also summoned the chargé d'affaires of the US embassy, Eric Whitaker, on Thursday to "deplore" the fact that "the United States and the United Kingdom, usually committed to scientific rigour, are reacting on the basis of a report with hasty conclusions", according to the Burkina Faso state news agency (AIB).

"Where are these human rights defenders when terrorists are massacring our populations? What are they doing?" asked another member of the federation, Halidou Ouedraogo.

Burkina Faso has been facing terrorist violence since 2015, attributed to armed movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which has left around 20,000 dead and more than two million displaced.

Read Also: Reino Unido e EUA pedem investigação a massacre no Burkina Faso (Portuguese version)