A demonstrator holds placards during a protest to support Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traore and to demand the departure of France's ambassador and military forces, in Ouagadougou, on January 20, 2023. (Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)
Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso's army announced on Sunday that operations by the French army in the jihadist-hit West African state were officially over.
Senior officers from Burkina Faso and France's forces in the country held a flag-lowering ceremony to mark the occasion at a camp on the outskirts of the capital Ouagadougou on Saturday, Burkina's army said in a statement.
Last month France confirmed it would withdraw its contingent of hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina Faso, after the junta ruling the Sahel country demanded the force pull out within four weeks.
Their departure marks another significant step in the scaling-down of France's military presence in the region.
The junta in neighbouring Mali also insisted French troops leave and in 2022 French President Emmanuel Macron ended the drew the anti-jihadist Barkhane mission there after more than a decade.
The jihadist attacks continue in the region.
As French forces quit the region, there is concern among western countries over the increasing influence of Russia there, in particular the presence of mercenaries from the Wagner Group run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin.
France's disengagement, including equipment and materials, will be finalised by a logistics team deployed for this purpose, the Burkina Faso army statement said.
According to a Burkinabe security source, "most of the (French) soldiers have already left".
Asked when the last soldiers would actually leave, a French army spokesman declined to comment.
