Mighty France defeated and agrees to withdraw from former colony
Mighty France defeated and agrees to withdraw from former colony
French troops will leave Burkina Faso on insistence from Ouagadougou
Paris announced on Wednesday that French troops will leave Burkina Faso within a month, after the Burkinabe government officially repudiated the 2018 status of forces agreement. Special forces soldiers of the former colonial power had been deployed in the West African nation, as part of a mission to combat terrorism.
The French Foreign Ministry formally received the demarche from Ouagadougou on Tuesday, giving France the 30-day notice to withdraw.
“We will respect the terms of the agreement by honoring this request,” the Quai d’Orsay said in a statement. According to AFP, the troops will leave Burkina Faso by the end of February, and their equipment will follow by late April.
An estimated 400 French troops have been in Burkina Faso for years as part of Operation Sabre, a counter-insurgency targeting jihadists in the former African colonies. Frustrated with the fruitless campaign, the Burkinabe military ousted the civilian president in a coup last January. The French-educated Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba was then overthrown by Captain Ibrahim Traore in September.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Ouagadougou last Friday to demand the French departure. Some chanted anti-French slogans, while others waved Russian flags. According to the Agence d’Information du Burkina, the Traore government had made the decision to expel the former colonial power two days prior. France responded by seeking clarification from the former colony.
more at RT news >>>
