French convoy of army blocked by Burkinabe protesters arrives in Niger News

The halting of the military convoy has become one of growing anger because local and international forces are unable to sustain the escalation of violence.

After a week of protests by Burkina Faso protesters, a French military convoy bound for Mali has arrived in Niger.

Hundreds of protesters in the city of Kaya surrounded logistic trucks and armored vehicles on November 19 as they crossed Burkina Faso on their way from Niger to Mali.

The convoy, which had already gathered in protests in two other cities along the route, then retreated to a camp north of the capital, Ouagadougou.

“The French convoy is in Niger,” Pascal Lanni, a spokesman for the French military headquarters, told AFP news agency on Friday, adding that he resumed his journey on Thursday evening under the escort of Burkinabe gendarmes.

Earlier on Thursday, the convoy was stationed in a military area 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of Ouagadougou, awaiting the outcome of talks between the government and protest organizers to allow the trucks to leave.

Their destination is a Gao base, the focus of Operation Barkhane in France, which supports allies in the Sahel region in the fight against armed groups that began almost a decade ago in northern Mali.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who spoke to LCI television earlier this week, said the “manipulators” were sparking anti-French sentiment, but hoped Burkina authorities would act to find a solution.

The organizers of the protests are the Coalition of African Nationalists in Burkina Faso or a group called COPA BF. The demonstrations are aimed at revealing the flaws in Burkina Faso’s security agreements with France.

“Despite the agreements signed with France, we are still more dead and our country is not yet equipped,” said his spokesman Roland Bayala.

Bayala’s proclamation resonates with many people in the West African country who are desperate for local and international troops for not resisting violence. France has thousands of troops deployed across the Sahel, where they are fighting ISIL (ISIS) and armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda.

Burkinabe security forces suffered the biggest loss in years at the start of the month, according to fighters from an al-Qaeda affiliate. He killed 49 military police and four civilians.

Three others were killed in a similar attack on Wednesday, and hundreds of civilians were killed during the year.

With growing criticism and opposition to renewing protests on Saturday, President Roch Kabore pledged in a televised speech on Thursday night to resolve “unacceptable dysfunctions” in the military.

Schools have been closed in anticipation of possible unrest across the country. The mobile Internet has also been shut down since last Saturday in accordance with a legal provision related to national defense and public safety.