France to withdraw its troops from Burkina Faso

The French Foreign Ministry has stated that it will withdraw its military personnel from the West African country Burkina Faso within an agreed one-month period.

The French ministry said it had received notification of the termination of the 2018 agreement on the status of French troops in the country on January 24.

"Under 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," Reuters quotes the ministry as saying on January 23.

On January 23, the Burkina Faso government said it had decided to end a military accord that allowed French troops to fight insurgents on its territory because the government wants the country to defend itself.

The move by the Burkina Faso government comes amid surging protests opposing the French military presence in Burkina, which is partly linked to perceptions that France has not done enough to tackle the Islamist militancy that has spread in recent years from neighbouring Mali.

France retains some 200-400 special forces in Burkina. It withdrew forces from Mali last year after the military junta there deployed Russian military contractors in the country.

The West African country is facing an Islamist insurgency by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large swathes of land and displaced millions of people in the wider Sahel region, just south of the Sahara.

French defence and diplomatic sources said the special forces could be moved to Niger, where a large contingent of French and European forces are now based. Paris also has a large military presence in Chad.