Burkina Faso Army
(L’Armee de Terre)

Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has started reforming the country’s military force, after meeting senior officers of the army. On 05 February 2016, President Kabore was briefed on the material and organizational needs of the Burkinabe soldiers, prompting the need to reform the army, which has between 11,000 and 12,000 men. “In the program I developed, I was very clear, we need an independent army, a non-political and operational army, provided with the means to ensure the safety of Burkina Faso,” President Kabore said.

The President since his investiture, chose to be Defense Minister and repeatedly promised to reform the military, even before the attack on January 15 in Ouagadougou, which left 30 people dead. Major reforms were already initiated during the one year transition after former President Blaise Comparé‘s regime ended in October 2014.

To disconnect the army from politics, a law was passed in April 2015 forcing all military officials seeking to engage in politics to resign from the army. “It is important that at the end of these discussions on the reform of the army, there is a consensus,” President Kabore added.

5 x infantry regiments 1 x paratroop regiment 1 x armoured battalion 1 x engineer battalion 1 x commando battalion 1 x independent artillery unit

The Army of Burkina Faso (L'Armée de Terre – Ground Forces or LAT) is a skeletonized force structure of some 5,800–6,000 officers and men, augmented by a People's Militia of some 45,000 men and women. Unlike the police and security forces, the Army and the People's Militia are organized along Soviet/Chinese models and precepts. The Army is equipped with light wheeled armored cars, some mounting cannon. The IISS estimated in 2011–12 that Burkina Faso had 6,400 personnel in the Armee de Terre in three military regions, one tank battalion (two tank platoons), five infantry regiments that may be under-strength, and an airborne regiment. Artillery and engineer battalions are also listed. A dozen soldiers were killed in northern Burkina Faso 16 December 2016 when unidentified gunmen attacked a military post near the border with Mali, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said while calling the assailants "forces of evil". He said those killed were members of the army's special anti-terrorist group. "This attack demonstrates that the fight against terrorism will be without respite and also underscores the necessary decisions that must be taken to give confidence and vitality to our army," Kabore said. Troops at the Nassoumbou base are part of a 600-strong counterterrorism battalion that was deployed in January 2013 when France sent in troops during the unrest in northern Mali.

Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has named a new military commander, two weeks after jihadists killed 12 soldiers in a major raid, a government statement said 29 December 2016. Colonel Oumarou Sadou was made chief of the armed forces general staff, according to the document released after a cabinet meeting. He replaced General Pingrenoma Zagre.