France has granted a request from the military authorities of Burkina Faso to remove all of its personnel from the nation.
Burkina Faso claims it wants to defend itself as it fights an Islamist insurgency at the moment.
Currently stationed in Burkina Faso are 400 French special soldiers, who have one month to leave.
France announced on Thursday that it would also summon its ambassador to the nation for discussions.
The ambassador’s replacement had been demanded by Burkina Faso’s junta due to his remarks regarding the country’s deteriorating security situation.
French forces also left neighboring Mali last year after eight years of combating militants there.
In West Africa, France has maintained strong military ties with many of its former colonies and has assisted a number of countries in fighting jihadists operating there as part of the now-defunct Operation Barkhane.
There are still about 3,000 French troops serving in West Africa, mainly in Niger and Chad.
Some people have grown resentful of its power, which Russia has tapped into, as a result of its continuous links, particularly economic ones.
Currently, Wagner, a Russian mercenary force, is cooperating with both Mali and the Central African Republic.
Burkina Faso has dismissed suggestions that it will work with the Wagner Group to combat the jihadists, but an AFP story claims that a liaison team from the mercenaries has already visited.
A representative of the French foreign ministry acknowledged that the Burkinabe administration had made a formal request for its troops to go.
The spokeswoman declared, “We will honor this request in accordance with the conditions of the Agreement.”
An insurrection that has lasted ten years in Burkina Faso has driven over two million people from their homes.
Most recently, suspected jihadists abducted over 60 women who were gathering food in the country’s north, and at the beginning of the month, the bodies of 28 individuals who had been murdered by gunfire were discovered in the town of Nouna in the region’s northwest. Since then, the women have been freed.
