Burkina Faso asks France to recall ambassador; 28 bodies found in country’s northwest

Amid a surge in anti-French sentiment, France has been asked to recall its ambassador in Burkina Faso, the military junta said Monday January 2, as the West African country seeks to develop closer ties with Russia.

Ambassador Luc Hallade was asked to leave, government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo confirmed to the media, but provided no further details. The move comes less than two weeks after the United Nations’ resident and humanitarian coordinator in Burkina Faso, Barbara Manzi, was also declared persona non grata.

The current military regime overthrew a previous junta last year, claiming it had not done enough to stop the fighting. Anti-French sentiment has been growing in the former French colony since the new junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, seized power in September. Traore has been more overtly open to working with other countries, notably Russia.

France sent troops to West Africa’s Sahel region in 2013 when it helped drive Islamic extremists from power in northern Mali, but is facing growing pushback from local governments that say the French soldiers have yielded few results against the jihadis.

French forces left Mali last year after relations with the junta deteriorated.

The French still have several hundred special forces troops based in Burkina Faso.

The call to replace Hallade comes a year after Mali’s junta ejected France’s ambassador from the country.

In another development,  the government said twenty-eight bodies were found in Nouna, capital of the province of Kossi, in northwest Burkina Faso over the weekend. It added that an investigation was underway as speculation grew over who may be responsible. The tragedy reportedly occurred during the night of 30 to 31 December. The Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities (CISC) has denounced “abuses” committed by Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP, army auxiliaries).

The West African state has been wracked by violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group since 2015. The attacks, which are now on the rise, killed thousands and displaced nearly 2 million people.

The government says it remains “fundamentally opposed to any form of abuse or human rights violations on any grounds.”