The military administration of Burkina Faso has mandated the departure of hundreds of French troops within a month.
The statement was issued on Saturday (January 21), according to the official Agence d’Information du Burkina. According to the news agency, the decision to withdraw France’s military deployment in Burkina Faso was reached on Wednesday, January 18.
The action was taken five months after France finished its nine-year struggle alongside local forces against Islamist rebels in Mali.
Anti-French protestors there started asking the junta to deepen ties with Russia after the second coup there last year. Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who have been charged with widespread human rights violations both there and abroad, have already been engaged by Mali.
However, France has continued to have close economic and humanitarian aid links with its former colony more than 60 years after Burkina Faso gained its independence.
Those who had grown impatient with France were relieved to hear the statement on Saturday.
