Burkina Faso confirmed on Sunday that French army operations in the jihadist-infested West African country were officially terminated, following a deterioration in bilateral relations in recent months.
Top officers from Burkinabe and French forces in the country marked the event with a flag-lowering ceremony on Saturday at a camp on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou, according to a statement from Burkina’s army.
France said last month that it would remove its contingent of hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina Faso after the Sahel country’s ruling junta ordered the military leave within four weeks.
The proposal came only days after Burkina’s Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tembela called Russia a “logical” alternative for a new anti-jihadist partner.
“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 neighbouring Mali also insisted French troops leave and in 2022 French President Emmanuel Macron ended the anti-jihadist Barkhane mission there after a decade.
The jihadist attacks continue in the region.
– Russia’s influence –
As French forces withdraw from the region, Western governments are concerned about Russia’s growing influence, particularly the presence of mercenaries from the Wagner group, which is run by a Putin supporter.
A logistics team assigned for this reason will finalize France’s military disengagement, including equipment and materials, according to a Burkina Faso army statement.
“Most of the (French) soldiers have already left,” according to a Burkinabe security source.
On Saturday, the Burkina Faso army chief of staff, Colonel Adam Nere, presided over the ceremony, as did French Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Lecacheur, who headed the 400 special forces men deployed in Burkina under the Sabre task group.
A French army official declined to answer when asked when the last soldiers would leave.
The ECOWAS regional bloc renewed sanctions against Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea on Sunday, three military-ruled countries in the hazardous Sahel area.
After military coups in 2020, the three unstable states were suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
In a speech to the African Union summit on Saturday, AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat said the pan-African organization needed to consider new tactics to combat democracy’s backsliding.
France stated last month that it would withdraw its force of hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina Faso.
“Sanctions imposed on member states following unconstitutional changes of government… do not seem to produce the expected results,” he said.
Burkina Faso, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been devastated by a jihadist insurgency that erupted in neighboring Mali in 2015. In 2022, the country witnessed two military coups.
Hundreds of people have been slain, more than two million have fled their homes, and the government controls only around 40% of the country.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday that it was suspending most of its operations in Burkina Faso following the murder of two of its employees by armed individuals last week.
