France returns military base to Senegal as part of broader withdrawal
Senegal's President Bassirou Dioumaye Faye announced late last year that former colonial power France would have to close its military bases in Senegal by 2025.
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DAKAR - France handed over to Senegal a military base used by its army on Tuesday, as part of a broader withdrawal of French troops from the west African country.
Senegal's President Bassirou Dioumaye Faye announced late last year that former colonial power France would have to close its military bases in Senegal by 2025 - a process that began in March with the first handovers to Senegalese authorities.
France returned on Tuesday a military communications centre located in Rufisque, near Dakar, the French embassy in Senegal said in a statement.
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The station had been "responsible for communications on the southern Atlantic coast since 1960", the statement read.
After its independence in 1960, Senegal remained one of France's most reliable African allies.
But Faye, in power since 2024, has pledged to treat France as any other foreign partner.
As a result, all Senegalese staff working for French troops in Senegal were to be dismissed starting on 1 July.