Burkina Faso’s military government has reportedly told France to withdraw its troops from the country within a month after protesters held a rally against France’s military presence there.
“The Burkinabe government last Wednesday denounced the accord, which has governed, since 2018, the presence of French armed forces on its territory,” the state news agency AIB said on Saturday.
It added that the government has given France a month to complete the pullout of its troops.
Meanwhile, a source close to the government confirmed that the authorities have called for “the departure of French soldiers in a short time,” but did not give further details.
A spokesman for the government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the French government was not immediately available for comment.
France has deployed about 400 military forces to Burkina Faso under the pretext of fighting terrorist groups, which have killed thousands of people and displaced more than two million.
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The new development came after hundreds demonstrated against Paris in the capital Ouagadougou on Friday, chanting anti-France slogans and wielding placards calling on the French army to leave the country.
Some protesters burned French flags or used them to pick up trash.
The country is ruled by a military junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, which seized power last September.
French troops withdrew from neighboring Mali last year, after a 2020 coup in the former French colony.
Burkina Faso, also once under French rule, saw officers seize power in September in the second coup in eight months
Being one of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso has been engulfed with 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.
