Burkina: the Malian Prime Minister invites not to rely on foreign armies

The Malian Prime Minister invited Thursday in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso not to count on “

” to fight the jihadist groups which strike the two countries led by putschist soldiers.

“

,” said Choguel Kokalla Maïga on his arrival, who was welcomed by his Burkinabè counterpart, Apollinaire Kyélem de Tambela.

“

,” he continued before paying tribute to the victims, mostly soldiers, of the recent jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso.

Jihadist threat

On Wednesday, at least a dozen Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), army auxiliaries, were killed in an attack in northern Burkina.

A few days earlier, 70 soldiers had lost their lives in two other attacks in the north, near Mali.

“

”, estimated Choguel Kokalla Maïga, because the jihadist groups put “

”.

"

," he added.

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power by a coup in September 2022, obtained the departure of the French ambassador and the French special forces of the Saber mission after having denounced in mid-January the military agreements which linked the two country.

He does not rule out turning to Russia, as Mali did, which also drove out French forces.

Read alsoAfter Mali and Burkina, what rear base for the French army in the Sahel?

Choguel Kokalla Maïga, who stays in Burkina until Sunday at the head of a delegation of several ministers, must attend on Saturday the opening ceremony of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival (Fespaco), of which Mali is the country guest of honour.

Burkina, the scene of two military coups in 2022, has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of jihadist violence that appeared in Mali and Niger a few years earlier and which has spread beyond their borders.

In total, since 2015, the violence has killed more than 10,000 people - civilians and soldiers - according to NGOs, and some two million internally displaced people.