Two French soldiers suspended over Burkina child sex claims

France has suspended two of its soldiers over allegations they sexually abused children, including a five-year-old girl, in the west African country of Burkina Faso, the defence ministry said June 30. 

"Two French soldiers on mission in Burkina Faso were suspected... of engaging in acts of a sexual nature with two children," France's defence ministry said in a statement.
 
The suspensions follow an alleged sex abuse scandal involving French troops in Central African Republic (CAR), which caused outrage and only came to light after claims were leaked to the British press.
 
One of the alleged victims in Burkina Faso was a five-year-old girl whose father found a camera containing images of his daughter being sexually abused.
 
"There was a soldier who filmed the scene with a camera while the second touched" the girl, a senior police officer in Burkina Faso told AFP, adding that the parents were friends with the alleged perpetrators.
 
After discovering the camera at the scene, the father went to the French embassy in Ouagadougou, which in turn alerted the police, who have opened an inquiry, the source said.
 
Paris prosecutors opened their own investigation on June 30 evening, a judicial source told AFP, while the defence ministry said the military was also looking into the allegations.
 
Chief of Defence Staff General Pierre de Villiers is leading the army's investigation, and "if the facts are proved, the army will show itself implacable against the two people involved," the ministry said.
         
French military police, responsible for investigations into soldiers deployed on overseas operations, will arrive on July 1 from Niger to investigate alongside their Burkina Faso counterparts,...