France yields to Burkina Faso, troops to leave within a month

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Jan 18:45

The French Foreign Ministry says it received the official request from Burkina Faso to pull French soldiers from the country.

French troops leaving Mali last August after being instructed to leave by the African country (Reuters)

The French Foreign Ministry said that Paris will comply with Burkina Faso's decision to withdraw the French troops from the country within a month.

On Monday, Burkina Faso notified Paris that the French army must leave the country within a month and announced that it decided to terminate the military accord with France.

Earlier, on January 3, Burkina Faso's government asked the French Ambassador to leave the country after he asked his compatriots to move out of a city due to security concerns.

"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," the Foreign Ministry stated.

"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."

Following Burkina Faso’s decision to expel French troops, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he is “waiting for clarifications” from the West African country.

Macron added that Burkina Faso's decision reported by the media caused “great confusion”.

France has 400 special forces troops stationed in junta-ruled Burkina to allegedly combat an Islamist insurgency, but ties have soured in recent months as Paris was accused by the West African country that it had failed its mission.

According to sources acquainted with the matter, France's preferred option would be to transfer its forces to the south of neighboring Niger, where approximately 2,000 French troops are currently stationed.