A combined force of 5,000 troops from Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will soon be deployed to address security challenges in the central Sahel region.
- 5,000 troops from Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will be deployed to address security challenges in central Sahel region.
- Violence in the region driven by conflict with Islamist groups, leading to displacement of 2.6 million people.
- Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali have decided to collaborate on security efforts.
A combined force of 5,000 troops from Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will soon be deployed to address security challenges in the central Sahel region, according to Niger’s defence chief on state television.
The military-led governments of these West African nations, which came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023, have decided to collaborate on security efforts, Reuters reported.
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This joint initiative followed their decision last year to sever military and diplomatic ties with regional allies, including France and other Western powers.
Niger’s Defence Minister, Salifou Mody, announced that the newly formed joint force will be equipped with its own air assets, equipment, and intelligence resources to operate across the territories of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.
These three nations have solidified their collaboration through a cooperation pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
“The unified AES force is nearly ready, with 5,000 personnel,” Mody stated on Tuesday. He added, “It’s only a matter of weeks before this force will be visible on the ground,” noting that some joint operations have already commenced.
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The departure of the three countries from ECOWAS, combined with strained relations with France and other Western nations, has sparked concerns about the potential spread of insecurity from the Sahel region to different parts of West Africa.
Violence driven by a decade-long conflict with Islamist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State has escalated since the coups, displacing 2.6 million people within the region by the end of December, according to the U.N. humanitarian agency OCH
