Three junta-led Sahel nations introduced plans Tuesday to kind a 5,000-strong joint drive to fight the persistent terrorist violence afflicting the area.
Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali will create a “unified force” inside weeks, Niger’s protection minister mentioned.
The three nations are former French colonies the place the navy deposed civilian administrations in putsches between 2020 and 2023.
Following the coups, the three nations distanced themselves from France and final yr shaped a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
“In this common space, our forces will be able to intervene together,” Niger Defense Minister Salifou Mody mentioned in a televised interview, including that the 5,000-strong drive was “nearly ready.”
“This unified force will not only have its own personnel, but aerial, ground and intelligence means and a coordination system,” he mentioned, including that it ought to be operational inside weeks.
Taken collectively, the three nations are sprawled over an space of some 2.8 million sq. kilometers (1.1 million sq. miles) – roughly 4 instances the scale of France – in Africa’s northwest.
They lie within the area often known as the Sahel, which stretches between the dry Sahara desert within the north and the extra humid savannas to the south.
Each has been wracked by assaults by terrorists allied with both al-Qaida or Daesh (Islamic State) for a decade, violence that governments haven’t been capable of eradicate regardless of assist from French forces.
“We are in the same place, we face the same type of threats, especially this threat of criminal groups. We have to join forces,” Mody mentioned.
“This is new, original and will provide security for our territories and for our people,” he mentioned.
The three nations already perform joint anti-terrorist operations, particularly within the area the place their borders meet, the place the assaults are essentially the most frequent.
Following their coups, the three nations kicked out French troops deployed to assist struggle the terrorists, withdrew from the ECOWAS regional grouping, judging it to be ineffective to their wants, and have turned to new companions like Russia, which is searching for to broaden its affect on the continent.
Source: www.dailysabah.com