OUAGADOUGOU (Dispatches) – Hundreds of people have thronged the streets in Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ouagadougou to protest against France’s military presence in the country, underscoring anti-French sentiment in the rebel-ravaged West African country.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in the center of Ouagadougou chanting anti-French slogans and holding placards demanding French troops to “get out”.
Some protesters burned French flags or used them to pick up trash.
Adama Sawadogo, one of the protesters present in the rally, said “We want... to show France that we no longer need her.”
Relations between Burkina Faso and its former colonizer France have been strained following two military coups last year, fueled in part by the authorities’ failure to protect civilians from terrorist groups in the arid north.
According to news media, the demonstration was largely peaceful and ended without any violent incidents.
Many believe that the French military presence in Burkina Faso has not improved security.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the government demanded the replacement of the French ambassador.
France has deployed about 400 military forces in Burkina Faso under the pretext of fighting terrorist groups, which have killed thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million people, and increased food violence across the region.

Dozens Kidnapped Women,
Children Freed

Meanwhile, security forces rescued 66 women and children who were kidnapped by armed militants in northern Burkina Faso last week.
Armed men seized the women and their children on January 12 and 13 outside two villages in the district of Arbinda, in the Sahel region’s Soum province.
Security forces conducted a rescue operation and freed 27 women and 39 babies, children and young girls in the adjacent Centre-Nord region, national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTP) said.
“They have found freedom after eight long days in the hands of their kidnappers,” an RTP presenter said.
In its main evening news bulletin, RTB, referring to the army “operation”, showed images of the women freed and brought to the capital, Ouagadougou.
Several government and security officials confirmed the news, Reuters and AFP news agencies reported.
The abduction prompted alarm from the United Nations, while the country’s military government warned of a rise in attacks on civilians.
Burkina Faso is one of several countries in West Africa battling a rampant armed uprising with links to Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
Armed militants have occupied territory in the country’s arid and mainly rural north, executing hundreds of villagers and displacing thousands more in the process.
They have also blockaded certain areas in recent months and made it increasingly dangerous to deliver supplies to trapped citizens.