Mali's Prime Minister encourages Burkina Faso not to depend on foreign troops.

The Malian Prime Minister repeated his resolve to win the conflict during a visit to Burkina's city, Ouagadougou.

"It is up to our troops to win the battle. It must be categorically stated that no foreign force will come to fight for us. The Africans must protect themselves, but in order for us to defend ourselves, the army must be confident that their people are with them and that they will not perish in vain ", according to Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maga.

At least a dozen army auxiliaries from the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP) group were slain in an assault in northern Burkina on Wednesday.

"This is a difficult time because you have made decisions today that are not to everyone's liking, so they are exerting pressure on you, they are sowing doubt, and it is at this point that I think, like all great peoples, the people of Burkina Faso must unite as one," urged the Malian PM.

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the Burkinabe commander who came to power in a coup in Burkina Faso last year, secured the withdrawal of the French envoy and French special forces from the Sabre mission after denouncing the military agreements that linked the two countries in mid-January.