(Photo by Olga MALTSEVA / AFP)

Firmin Ngrebada on Thursday resigned as prime minister of the Central African Republic along with his entire cabinet.

The development on Thursday came during a turbulent week after France announced it was suspending military operations with its former colony.

Ngrebada said on Twitter he handed over his and the government’s resignation to President Faustin- Archange Touadera, but a presidential spokesman told the AFP news agency the prime minister could be tapped to lead a refreshed administration.

“We will know within a few hours if the president keeps the prime minister on,” Albert Yaloke Mokpeme said.

Ngrebada was made prime minister in February 2019. He had served as President Faustine-Archange Touadera’s chief of cabinet before the appointment.

A spokesman for the presidency said Ngrebada could be asked to lead a new government.

His resignation comes after strained political and diplomatic ties with former colonial ruler France.

Paris announced this week that it was suspending military assistance to Bangui, saying authorities in the African country were complicit in a Russian propaganda campaign against its forces and diplomats.

The central African Republic has since charged a French man found with weapons with espionage.

In December 2020, Facebook accused Paris and Moscow of running rival disinformation campaigns in CAR. The platform said it had pulled down more than 500 accounts, pages, and groups from Facebook and Instagram originating from Russia and France targeting 13 African countries, including Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.