By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The interim leader of Burkina Faso, President Ibrahim Traore on Thursday said Russia had become his country’s key strategic in the fight against Islamist armed groups.
Burkina Faso’s relations with Moscow has been questioned after it booted out French troops in February, ending an accord that allowed France to fight insurgents there amid a rise in anti-French sentiment in parts of the region.
Traore has repeatedly denied that Russian mercenaries were supporting Burkinabe forces in their fight against the insurgents.
In a rare televised interview, Traore was asked who Burkina Faso’s international allies were now in the conflict which has killed thousands and displaced around 2.5 million.
“The departure of the French army does not mean that France is not an ally,” Traore replied. “But we have strategic allies too. We have new forms of cooperation. Russia, for example, is a strategic ally.”
He said Russia was a major supplier of military equipment and would remain so, without giving further details.
“I am satisfied with the cooperation with Russia. It’s frank,” he said, sitting on an ornate chair in military fatigues and a beret.
Traore was asked to comment on reports Wagner forces are also on the ground in Burkina Faso.
“Our army fights alone,” he said. “Wagner’s presence was invented to harm Burkina, so countries would not cooperate with us.”
Western countries are concerned about Russia’s widening sway in Africa’s Sahel and its border regions.
France withdrew its forces from Mali last year after the junta there started working with Russian military contractor Wagner Group to fight the insurgents liked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
The instability in Burkina Faso triggered two coups last year by the military, which has vowed to retake control of the country but has so far failed to stop attacks.
