OUAGADOUGOU, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Burkina Faso government spokesman on Thursday rejected allegations of the establishment of a French military base in the country's northern Soum province.
"There is no French military basis established at Djibo", Burkina Faso minister of communication, Remis Fulgance Dandjinou, also spokesman of the government, said at a press conference in the capital Ouagadougou.
However, he conceded that the French Barkane force, based in Mali to counter jihadist terrorism in the whole Sahel region, has been requested twice for action in the Djibo area, a town in the province.
On its website, a statement by the French ministry of armed forces said: "From September 20-25, to the request of Burkina Faso authorities, the Barkane Force provided crucial support in strengthening Burkina Faso armed forces stationed in Soum province, in the north of the country".
"The objective having been achieved, the Barkane force detachment has been gradually disengaged by helicopter," it said.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been facing a spate of terrorist attacks that caused over 500 deaths and over 280,000 internally displaced persons including more than 9,000 pupils.
