Burkina Faso Military 2022, CIA World Factbook

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 (VDP) (2022)

note 1: 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

note 2: the VDP is a civilian defense force established in 2019 to act as auxiliaries to the Army in the fight against militants; the volunteers receive two weeks of training and typically assist with carrying out surveillance, information-gathering, and escort duties

Military expenditures

2.4% of GDP (2021 est.)

2.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.2% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $450 million)

1.9% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $370 million)

1.4% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $260 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 13,000 personnel (8,000 Army; 500 Air Force; 4,500 National Gendarmerie) (2022)

note 1: in 2019, the Burkina Faso Government announced an initial strength goal for the VDF of 15,000 members, but in October 2022 announced plans to recruit up to 50,000 VDF volunteers

note 2: in 2022, Burkina Faso announced a special recruitment for 3,000 additional soldiers to assist with its fight against terrorist groups operating in the country

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 a variety of countries (2022)

Military service age and obligation

18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; women may serve in supporting roles (2022)

Military deployments

650 (plus about 180 police) Mali (MINUSMA) (May 2022)

note: Burkina Faso is part of a four (formerly five)-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G4 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Chad, Mali (withdrew in 2022), Mauritania, and Niger; it has committed 550 troops and 100 gendarmes to the force; as of 2020, defense forces from each of the participating states were allowed to pursue terrorist fighters up to 100 km into neighboring countries; the force is backed by France, the UN, and the US

Military - note

including the most recent in October 2022, the military has conducted eight coups since 1960; as of 2022, the military was also actively engaged in combat operations with terrorist groups linked to al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), particularly in the northern and eastern regions; in the north, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a coalition of al-Qa'ida linked militant groups, has exploited ethnic tensions and perceptions of state neglect, as well as grievances over corruption, patronage politics, social stratification, and land disputes; in 2022, JNIM conducted attacks in 10 of the country's 13 provinces; most of the attacks were assessed to be by the Macina Liberation Front (FLM) of the JNIM coalition; the ISIS-Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) terrorist group operated in the eastern part of the country; in 2022, an estimated 40% of the country was not under government control (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Burkina Faso on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burkina Faso 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burkina Faso 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.