A UN-chartered helicopter delivering food aid to the town of Solle in northwest Burkina Faso was caught in an explosion shortly after landing on Tuesday, injuring two people.

The wounded are now receiving medical treatment.

The helicopter sustained only minor damage and was moved to safety, WFP said. Flights to Solle have been temporarily halted while authorities investigate the incident.

In conflict-affected areas of Burkina Faso, WFP’s humanitarian air operations are crucial for delivering life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable communities.

WFP aims to assist 315,000 of the most vulnerable people during the lean season from June to August, when families have exhausted their food stocks.

WFP, in  a statement on Wednesday, reaffirmed the agency’s “unwavering commitment to support populations in need and to reach the most remote communities with humanitarian assistance.”

Meanwhile, the UN human rights office expressed serious concern on Wednesday at the repeated denials of bail in Uganda for opposition leader Kizza Besigye and his associate, Obeid Lutale.

Both individuals have been denied bail three times since they were abducted in neighbouring Kenya and returned to Uganda last November.

In dismissing their latest request, the high court found them ineligible for mandatory bail merely because they had been detained in civil prison for less than the 180 days required to qualify for release, a duration that did not account for their prior deprivation of liberty following their abduction and forced return.

“We urge the authorities to reconsider the decision and grant them bail, and to ensure that any legal proceedings against them are fully in line with international human rights law,” OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell said.

The UN human rights office in Uganda closed its operations there in 2023 after the Government decided to end cooperation with OHCHR.

At the time, high commissioner Volker Türk expressed concern about the run-up to the 2026 elections, amid an increasingly hostile environment impacting human rights defenders, civil society actors, and journalists.

Other UN human rights mechanisms also condemned laws criminalising same sex relations and the call for the use of the death penalty for convicted offenders.

(NAN)