The commander of the ruling military council in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, confirmed that his country will not sever diplomatic relations with France, which he demanded to withdraw its forces, denying at the same time the presence of forces belonging to the Russian Wagner Group in the country.
"There is no severance of diplomatic relations and no hatred towards a particular country," Traoré said in a television interview.
Last month, the government of Burkina Faso officially asked the French forces on its soil to leave the country within a month, after demonstrations that lasted for several months to demand the departure of about 400 French special forces stationed northeast of the capital, Ouagadougou.
The demonstrators, demanding the exit of the French forces from their country, accused those forces of not doing enough to help Burkina Faso in the face of terrorist attacks, and sometimes of complicity with the aggressors.
Traore denied the presence of mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Group in Burkina Faso, despite the military council strengthening its relations with Moscow.
"We hear repeatedly that Wagner is in Ouagadougou ... (this rumor) was created so that everyone would distance themselves from us," Traoré said.
Burkina Faso witnessed two coups last year, motivated by dissatisfaction within the military establishment with the government's failure to curb armed attacks against civilians and the army.
According to official figures, more than 40% of the country's area is outside the control of the state.
Since 2015, the West African country has been witnessing continuous armed attacks that have killed thousands and forced nearly two million people to flee their homes.