Burkina Faso Demands Withdrawal of French Troops Within 1 Month - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2023) Burkina Faso's government has pulled out of a 2018 agreement with Paris, under which the French military contingent was stationed in the West African nation, and ordered the foreign troops to leave the country within one month, the Agence d'Information du Burkina (AIB) news agency said on Sunday, citing sources.

The 2018 accord was unilaterally denounced by Burkina Faso this past Wednesday, the news agency said, adding that the move gives the French troops one month to leave the country's territory.

According to AIB, Burkinabe citizens have been holding regular demonstrations demanding the departure of the French military contingent from the Kamboinsin military base.

In late September 2022, media in Burkina Faso reported that Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the leader of an interim government who came to power through a coup earlier in 2022, was ousted by a group of military officers led by Capt. Ibrahim Traore in what became the second military takeover in the country in eight months.

French media reported earlier this month that France could withdraw its special military forces stationed at the Kamboinsin military base over stalled defense cooperation.

Burkina Faso has been struggling to counter an uprising of radical jihadists that spread into the country from neighboring Mali in 2015, affecting the Sahel region the most.