France Completes Military Pullout From Burkina Faso

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2023) France completed its military withdrawal from Burkina Faso, almost a month after the Burkina government asked its former colonial master to leave.

Around 400 French troops were based in the western African country as part of a broader military presence in the Sahel region. French personnel also left neighboring Mali six months ago.

A solemn ceremony to mark the withdrawal was held on Saturday at Camp Bila Zagre in Kamboinsin, northeast of the capital of Ouagadougou, the Burkina military command said in a statement on Sunday.

Col. Adam Nere, the chief of staff of Burkina Faso's army, and French Lt. Col. Louis Lecacheur, who represented the Sabre Task Force, attended the flag-lowering ceremony, ending more than a decade of French presence in the country.