OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Burkina Faso’s military regime told France it wants its troops stationed in the country to leave within a month, the state news agency AIB reported on Saturday.

“The Burkinabe government last Wednesday denounced the accord which has governed, since 2018, the presence of French armed forces on its territory,” said AIB, adding that it had given France a month to complete its pull-out.

A source close to the government said the authorities had called for “the departure of French soldiers in a short time”.

France has 400 special forces soldiers stationed in junta-ruled Burkina to battle an Islamist insurgency — but relations have deteriorated in recent months.

The country is ruled by a military junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, which seized power last September.

French troops withdrew from Mali last year, after a 2020 coup in the former French colony saw its rulers inch closer to Russia.

Burkina Faso, also once under French rule, saw officers seize power in September in the second coup in eight months.

Rekindling ties with Russia has been on the agenda in Burkina since the coup.