By Arsene Kabore, OUAGADOUGOU Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s junta government late Saturday ordered hundreds of French troops to depart the West African country within a month, following in the path of neighboring Mali, whose nation is also headed by a coup leader.
National broadcaster RTB made
the announcement, citing the official Agence d’Information du Burkina. The news
agency said the decision had been made Wednesday to end the presence of
France’s military on Burkinabe soil.
Protesters took to the streets
of the capital, Ouagadougou, last week to call for the ouster of the French
ambassador and the closure of a French military base north of the capital.
About 400 French special forces soliders are currently based there, France 24
reported.
The move by Burkina Faso’s
regime comes five months after France completed its withdrawal from Mali after
nine years fighting Islamic extremists alongside regional troops. Many of those
are now based in Niger and Chad instead.
While the number of French
troops in Burkina Faso is far smaller than it was in Mali — 400 special forces,
compared to more than 2,400 soldiers — Saturday’s announcement adds to the
growing concerns that Islamic extremists are capitalizing on the political
disarray and using it to expand their reach. Analysts have questioned whether
the national militaries of Burkina Faso and Mali are capable of filling in the
void.
More than 60 years after
Burkina Faso’s independence, French remains an official language and France has
maintained strong economic and humanitarian aid ties with its former colony. As
the Islamic extremist insurgency has deepened, however, anti-French sentiment
has spiked due in part to the unabating violence.
After the second coup there
last year, anti-French protesters began urging the junta to instead strengthen
ties with Russia. Mali already has hired Russian mercenaries from the Wagner
Group, who have been accused of widespread human rights abuses there and
elsewhere.
Saturday’s announcement was
welcomed by those who had lost patience with France.
“Despite their presence on
Burkinabe soil with huge equipment and their power at the intelligence level,
they couldn’t help us defeat terrorism,” said Passamde Sawadogo, a prominent
civil society activist and reggae singer. “It therefore was time for us to get
rid of them, and that’s what the transition government is doing with a lot of
boldness.”
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