French Army Officially Ends Operations in Burkina Faso

By Staff, Agencies

Burkina Faso announced on Sunday that operations by the French army in the West African state were officially over, after bilateral relations soured in recent months.

Senior officers from Burkinabe and French forces in the country held a flag-lowering ceremony to mark the occasion at a camp on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday, Burkina’s army said in a statement.

Last month France confirmed it would withdraw its contingent of hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina Faso, after the junta ruling the Sahel country demanded the force pull out within four weeks.

The request came days after Burkina’s Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tembela declared Russia to be a “reasonable” choice of new partner in the anti-extremist fight.

“This does not mean the end of diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and France,” government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo told broadcaster RTV following the announcement.

Some of the troops left days after that announcement.

Their departure marks another significant step in the scaling-down of France’s military presence in the region.

The junta in neighboring Mali also insisted French troops leave and in 2022 French President Emmanuel Macron ended the Barkhane mission there after a decade.