Four French citizens were arrested in Burkina Faso on suspicion of espionage, media reprted.
Currently, the detainees, identified as employees of the French Directorate-General for External Security, are in a pre-trial detention facility, the reports say.
France has dismissed the charges, saying that the individuals arrived in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, at the invitation of the French diplomatic mission to carry out technical work.
The incident occurs amidst a broader trend of declining French influence in the Sahel region, marked by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger's military authorities discontinuing military cooperation with their former colonizer. This shift coincides with anti-French demonstrations in these countries.