Burkina Faso bans "homosexuality and associated practices" as Africa's coup belt lurches away from the West

Johannesburg — The military junta that seized power in Burkina Faso less than two years ago announced a law Wednesday criminalizing homosexuality. 

"Henceforth homosexuality and associated practices will be punished by the law," Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayalawas quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. 

It makes the West African nation the latest of the continent's 54 countries to follow a trend in banning same-sex relations. There are now only 21 African nations that do not explicitly prohibit same-sex relations. Uganda imposed the continent's most severe laws in May.