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Burkina Faso’s military junta has expelled France’s ambassador, authorities said Monday, amid rising anti-French sentiment as the West African country moves to develop closer ties with Russia.
Government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo confirmed to the Associated Press that Ambassador Luc Hallade has been asked to leave, but did not provide further details. The French embassy declined to comment.
Hallade’s expulsion comes less than two weeks after Burkina Faso’s United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Barbara Manzi, was also declared persona non grata.
Burkina Faso has been rocked by violence linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State group that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 2 million people.
The current military regime ousted a previous junta last year, claiming it had not done enough to stop the fighting. The previous junta had cited the same reason for wresting power from a civilian government months earlier.
Anti-French sentiment has been growing in the former French colony since the junta’s new leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, seized power in September. Traore has been openly more open to working with other countries, particularly Russia.
Last month, Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela visited Russia to strengthen relations and consolidate efforts to combat extremists in the region, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
France sent troops to the Sahel region of West Africa in 2013 when it helped oust Islamic extremists from northern Mali, but faces growing pushback from local governments who say French soldiers have achieved little against the jihadists.
French forces left Mali last year after relations with the junta soured.
The French still have several hundred special forces troops based in Burkina Faso.
Hallade’s expulsion comes a year after Mali’s junta also expelled the French ambassador there.
While Burkina Faso’s military leaders list restoring security as their top priority, extremist attacks have continued and are intensifying.
Last week, at least ten people were killed when a bus hit a roadside bomb in the east. Jihadists have besieged villages, preventing people from moving freely and creating a humanitarian crisis that is driving tens of thousands into famine.
Analysts said the expulsion of the French envoy was not a surprise as the junta is following in Mali’s footsteps, and the question is whether Russia will now expand its influence in the region.
“This will clearly sharpen the polarization between (West African countries), between states that oppose the junta’s policies and those that want to transition to democracy,” said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. , a defense and security institution. group of experts
(AP)
