Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said the eight were members of INSO, a Netherlands-based group specialising in humanitarian safety, and included a Frenchman, a French-Senegalese woman, a Czech man, a Malian and four Burkinabe nationals.
Those arrested included the country director of the NGO in the west African state and his deputy, Sana said.
The director had previously been arrested at the end of July when the NGO was suspended for three months by the authorities for "collecting sensitive data without authorisation".
The NGO, based in The Hague, provides security analyses for other humanitarian organisations.
Sana alleged it "collected and passed on sensitive security information that could be detrimental to national security and the interests of Burkina Faso, to foreign powers".
He said that despite being banned from operating on July 31, some members "continued to clandestinely or covertly conduct activities such as information collection and meetings in person or online".
Burkina Faso's military junta has turned away from the West and in particular its former colonial master France since seizing power in a September 2022 coup.
Burkinabe authorities often repress dissent, notably within civil society and the media, claiming it as part of the battle against jihadist violence that has plagued the country for a decade.
Burkina frees two activists press-ganged to fight jihadists
Abidjan (AFP) Oct 7, 2025 -
Burkina Faso has freed two civil society activists press-ganged into fighting the Sahel country's jihadist insurgency for over a year, sources close to the pair told AFP Tuesday.
Since taking power in a September 2022 coup, the west African country's junta has been accused of silencing its critics by sending dissident voices to the front lines.
Around a dozen of those sent, notably journalists, civil society figures or people close to politicians, have been released from the draft in recent months.
Bassirou Badjo and Rasmane Zinaba, who took part in the demonstrations that ousted ex-strongman Blaise Campaore in 2014, were set free late on Monday, according to their entourages, confirming reports in the Burkinabe press.
"They're both holding up well even if their physical condition has changed a lot," a source close to both activists told AFP.
Another source said they had returned to their families and would undergo medical checks as a precaution.
According to their organisation, the pair were "abducted" by "individuals presenting themselves as agents of the state security forces" in Febuary 2024.
Rights groups have increasingly reported kidnappings of people considered hostile to the junta over the past year.
Like other countries in the Sahel, Burkina Faso has been riven by violence from jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group for more than a decade.
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