BURKINA FASO – INTERNATIONAL
News: Why
have French troops withdrawn from Burkina Faso?
What's in the news?
● On
February 19, Burkina Faso announced an official end to the operations led by France
in the country.
Key takeaways:
● France
was asked to withdraw troops from Burkina Faso months after it pulled out its
troops from Mali.
Terrorism in Burkina Faso:
● Islamist insurgency
has surged since 2015 and fueled two coups in Burkina Faso last year.
● The
violence linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic
State groups has killed thousands and forced more than two million to flee
their homes in the country.
France's Counter Insurgency Operations in African
Regions:
● France
had signed a military agreement with Burkina Faso in 2018 to achieve stability against the threat of
Islamist militant groups.
● France
signed a series of similar agreements with other West African nations,
including Mali who terminated the operation in late 2022.
Reasons for France withdrawal:
The
military governments in West Africa pose multiple challenges such as
● Lack
of support from the state itself.
● Russian inroads into
Africa:
○ Russian
private military company Wagner Group is working closely with the military
governments in West Africa.
○ Increasing
pro-Russia sentiment.
● The
primary reason behind the withdrawal is the failure of its counter insurgency
operations in the Sahel region against Islamist groups.
● Islamist
insurgency kept intensified.
● Anti-France protests
increased in Burkina Faso with demonstrators demanding French withdrawal from
the country.
● Dissatisfaction
with the French approach has made other actors including Russia and China more
preferable partners to fight insurgency.
What next for France and Burkina Faso?
● France
has accepted the military government's decision which marks a significant
change in its West Africa approach.
● In
Burkina Faso, in the absence of France’s troops, the alleged Russian
mercenaries may fill the security void, as part of its bid to enhance military
engagements in the continent.
● However,
the new developments are unlikely to address the insurgency and the consequent
insecurity.
Go back to basics:
Burkina Faso:
● Burkina
Faso is a landlocked country in West
Africa.
● It
is a former French colony.
OPERATION BARKHANE:
● In
January 2013, France started conducting military operations in the Sahel.
● Operation
Serval, as it was known, was restricted to going after Islamic extremists
affiliated with al-Qaeda who had taken over northern Mali.
● The
operation, now known as Operation BARKHANE, was renamed and scaled up in 2014
with a counterterrorism focus.
● The
goal was to support regional military forces in their efforts to stop the
emergence of non-state armed groups throughout the Sahel.
● The
Operation BARKHANE initiative, which aims to combat terrorism in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and
Chad, was launched as a result of the 2014 success.
Sahel Region:
● In
Africa, the Sahel is the region of ecoclimatic and biogeographic transition between the Sudanese savanna to the south
and the Sahara to the north.
● It
covers the southern central latitudes of Northern Africa, between the Atlantic
Ocean and the Red Sea, and has a semi-arid climate.
● The
Sahel part includes from west to east parts of northern Senegal, southern
Mauritania, central Mali, extreme north of Burkina Faso, the extreme south of
Algeria, Niger, the extreme north of Nigeria, the extreme north of Cameroon and
the Central African Republic, central Chad, central and southern Sudan, the
extreme north of South Sudan, Eritrea and the extreme north of Ethiopia.