CNN
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Burkina Faso’s military junta has demanded the withdrawal of French troops from the country, the government news agency Burkina Intelligence Service (AIB) reported.
According to the terms of the 2018 agreement, France has just one month to withdraw its troops from Burkina Faso, the AIB reported, citing sources.
The military junta “condemned last Wednesday the pact that has been in force since 2018, the presence of French troops in its territory,” the AIB reported on Saturday.
France still has 400 special forces based in Burkina Faso. Reutersto help combat Islamic extremists associated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State after years of violence in the region.
Residents of the capital Ouagadougou took to the streets on Friday to protest the presence of French troops in the country.
A video of the protest showed protesters holding placards with slogans: “French troops out of the house” and “Burkina-Russia friendship”.
Some participants carried Burkina Faso and Russian flags.
In December, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo Addo said Burkina Faso’s military government had invited mercenaries from the Russian private military group Wagner.
Burkina Faso’s Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation Jean-Marie Traore called the allegations “very serious” at a press conference on Dec. 16 after the government summoned the Ghanaian ambassador.
France, a former colonial power, first invaded the Sahel region in January 2013 at Mali’s request, launching Operation Serval, a UN-sanctioned ground and air operation against Islamic extremists.
This task was taken over in August 2014 by Operation Balkan, a broader French counter-terrorism initiative targeting Islamists across the Sahel, including Burkina Faso.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June 2021 that the mission would be replaced by a more international effort, and Western forces began withdrawing from Mali last February, but remain in Burkina Faso. .
On January 24, 2022, Burkina Faso’s military seized power, ousted former president Rosh Caborre, and dissolved the government and parliament.
The military suspended the constitution and closed borders. Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiva takes over as the new leader of the West African country.
However, Damiva’s reign of power proved short-lived, as an October 2022 coup ousted him from his top position in the country. Army Captain Ibrahim Traoré was then appointed as the country’s new president.
