Burkina Faso Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of Burkina Faso (FABF): Army of Burkina Faso (L’Armee de Terre, LAT), Air Force of Burkina Faso (Force Aerienne de Burkina Faso, FABF), National Gendarmerie; Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (a civilian defense force established in 2019 to act as auxiliaries to the military in the fight against militants) (2021)

note: the National Gendarmerie officially reports to the Ministry of Defense, but usually operates in support of the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Justice; Gendarmerie troops are typically integrated with Army forces in anti-terrorism operations; for example, Gendarmerie, Army, and police forces were combined to form a 1,500-member task force known as the Groupement des Forces Anti-Terroristes (GFAT) to address terrorist activities along the country's northern border in 2013

Military expenditures

2.4% of GDP (2019)

2.1% of GDP (2018)

1.4% of GDP (2017)

1.2% of GDP (2016)

1.3% of GDP (2015)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso (FABF) have approximately 12,000 personnel (7,000 Army; 500 Air Force; 4,500 National Gendarmerie) (2021)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the FABF has a mix of foreign-supplied weapons; since 2010, it has received limited amounts of mostly donated second-hand equipment from more than 10 countries (2020)

Military deployments

1,075 Mali (MINUSMA) (Jan 2021)

Military service age and obligation

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; women may serve in supporting roles (2019)

Military - note

since at least 2016, the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso have been actively engaged in combat operations with terrorist groups linked to al-Qa'ida and ISIS; military operations have occurred in the Centre‐Est, Centre‐Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel administrative regions

Burkina Faso is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger; it has committed 550 troops and 100 gendarmes to the force; the G5 force is backed by the UN, US, and France; G5 troops periodically conduct joint operations with French forces deployed to the Sahel under Operation Barkhane; in early 2020, G5 Sahel military chiefs of staff agreed to allow defense forces from each of the states to pursue terrorist fighters up to 100 km into neighboring countries (2021)

NOTE: The information regarding Burkina Faso on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burkina Faso 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burkina Faso 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.