Burkina Faso: Junta throws out French troops

Enlarge image

A demonstrator calls on the remaining French to leave Burkina Faso - a Russian flag can be seen in the background

Photo: VINCENT BADO / REUTERS

According to a media report, the military government of Burkina Faso has asked the French military to withdraw from the impoverished West African country.

State-run TV broadcaster RTB quoted a local news agency on Saturday as saying that on January 18 the military government suspended a 2018 military agreement that would allow French troops to be present in the country.

France now has a month to withdraw its soldiers.

No confirmation of the report was immediately available from the government.

A spokesman for the French government was initially unavailable.

Relations between France and its former colony have deteriorated since a military coup in September 2022.

Hundreds of people chanted anti-France slogans in the capital Ouagadougou on Friday;

Russia has been trying to gain a foothold in the country for months.

France has deployed around 400 troops in the country to help local forces fight an Islamist insurgency that has spread from Mali across the Sahel over the past decade.

Much of Burkina Faso has been ungovernable since 2018.

Millions of people have fled their villages in fear of attacks by armed groups.

Thousands were killed in attacks.

The extremists, who often invade the towns on motorcycles, now control large parts of the country in the north and east.

As a result, the population in the cities that were not attacked has swelled.

This is causing new problems in the health sector, for example, especially since many people are already suffering from malnutrition due to the drought.

In addition, due to the political uncertainty, the country should no longer benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade agreement.

The government of US President Joe Biden said at the beginning of the year that it was "deeply concerned about the unconstitutional change of government" in Burkina Faso.

The country will receive "clear guidelines" for rejoining the trade program and the government in Washington will work with the Burkinabe government.

AGOA grants African countries duty-free access to the United States.

dop/Reuters