The military administration of Burkina Faso has mandated the immediate departure of hundreds of French soldiers.
The news was made on Saturday by the national broadcaster RTB, who used the official Agence d’Information du Burkina as a source. The decision to cease France’s military deployment in Burkina Faso was reached, according to the news agency, on Wednesday.
The move comes five months after France completed its withdrawal from Mali after nine years fighting Islamist rebels alongside regional troops.
After the second coup there last year, anti-French protesters began urging the junta to instead strengthen ties with Russia. Mali has already hired Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who have been accused of widespread human rights abuses there and elsewhere.
But over 60 years after Burkina Faso’s independence, France has maintained strong economic and humanitarian aid ties with its former colony.
Saturday’s announcement was welcomed by those who had lost patience with France.