Ibrahim Traore, the temporary president of Burkina Faso, claimed on Thursday that Russia has become a key strategic partner in the country’s fight against Islamist armed organizations. He denied, however, that Russian mercenaries were assisting Burkinabe forces in this battle.
As anti-French sentiment grows in the region, the West African country is being scrutinized for its ties to Moscow after it withdrew French troops in February and terminated a contract that would have allowed France to fight extremists there.
In a rare TV interview, Traore was asked about Burkina Faso’s foreign allies in the unrest that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 2.5 million people in the Sahel region over the previous decade.
“The departure of the French army does not mean that France is no longer an ally,” Traore said. We do, however, have strategic partners. There are new methods to collaborate. Russia is one such key ally.
Without getting into details, he said that Russia is and will continue to be a major supplier of military weaponry.
I’m pleased with how things have been going with Russia. He sat in a nice chair with military fatigues and a beret, saying, “It’s honest.”
Western countries are concerned about Russia’s rising influence in the Sahel and adjoining African regions. France withdrew its forces from Mali last year after the junta started collaborating with the Russian military contractor Wagner Group to battle militants with connections to al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Traore was asked about claims that Wagner troops were already in Burkina Faso.
“Our army fights alone,” he said. Wagner was fabricated in order for other countries to refuse to assist us.
Burkina Faso’s military conducted two coups in a year, claiming to regain the country but was unable to prevent more attacks due to political upheaval in the country.
In 2012, Islamists in neighboring Mali hijacked a Tuareg separatist insurrection, causing regional turmoil. Since then, the violence has spread to Burkina Faso and Niger, threatening the security of other coastal countries as well.
