France says to accept Burkina Faso’s demand to withdraw troops within month
France on Wednesday said it will withdraw its hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina Faso within a month after the junta ruling the West African country demanded the pullout amid growing anti-French sentiment.
The government in Ouagadougou said on Monday that Burkina Faso was resolute in ending a military accord that allowed French troops to allegedly fight insurgents on its territory as the government wants the African nation to defend itself.
In a statement on Wednesday, France's foreign ministry responded that Paris would grant the request made by Ouagadougou.
"On Tuesday, January 24, we formally received the denunciation, by the Burkinabe government, of the 2018 agreement relating to the status of the French forces present in this country," it said.
"In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the denunciation takes effect one month after receipt of the written notification. We will comply with the terms of this agreement by complying with this request," the ministry said.
France retains some 400 members of its special forces in Burkina Faso under the pretext of fighting terrorist groups, which have killed thousands of people and displaced more than two million.
Many believe the French military presence in Burkina Faso has not improved security.
Relations between Burkina Faso and its former colonizer France have been strained following two military coups last year, fueled in part by the authorities' failure to protect civilians from terrorist groups in the arid north.
However, government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said on Monday that the denunciation of the agreement would not "the end of diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and France."
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated against Paris in Ouagadougou on Friday, chanting anti-France slogans and wielding placards calling on the French army to leave the country. Some protesters even burned French flags or used them to pick up trash.
Burkina Faso, once under French rule, is currently ruled by a military junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, which seized power last September, the second coup in eight months.
French troops withdrew from neighboring Mali last year, after a 2020 coup in the former French colony.
Being one of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso has been under the influence of terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh that have killed thousands of its citizens, creating one of the fastest-growing humanitarian crises in Africa.
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