Military in Mali, shortly after the first coup in 2020.
(Photo: AP)
Bamako According to information from Bamako, the military-ruled West African states of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have formed a defense alliance. Mali’s interim president Colonel Assimi Goïta announced on Saturday the signing of a charter establishing the so-called Alliance of Sahel States (AES). “The aim of the Charter is to create an architecture of collective defense and mutual assistance between the Parties,” the document said.
With the charter, the contracting parties undertake to combat terrorism and organized crime, it said. “Any violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracting parties will be viewed as aggression against the other contracting parties and will oblige all contracting parties to provide assistance and remedy… including the use of armed force.” Also Burkina Faso’s interim president Ibrahim Traoré and the Nigerien junta chief Abdourahamane Tiani were shown signing the document in photos published on Saturday.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are located in the Sahel zone on the southern edge of the Sahara and have been plagued for years by Islamist terrorist groups that carry out bloody attacks against civilians and increasingly control territory. The military has been in power in Niger since July, in Burkina Faso since last year, and in Mali there was the most recent coup in 2021.
Mali and Burkina Faso had already sided with Niger when the West African community of states Ecowas threatened military intervention there after the coup. In the dispute, all three states have turned away from the ex-colonial power France, which had previously been active with military aid. Mali relies on Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group in the fight against terrorists.
The security situation threatens to deteriorate significantly in all countries. As the UN peacekeeping mission Minusma withdraws from Mali by the end of the year, there are already more attacks and the threat of a renewed conflict with the separatist Tuareg. In Niger, which was the last democratic partner of the USA and European countries in the region, cooperation with foreign partners has largely been on hold since the coup.
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