Junta-led Sahel states ready to form joint force
Niger’s defence chief said on state television that a joint force of 5,000 troops from the junta-led neighbours Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali will soon deploy in their troubled central Sahel region, according to Reuters on January 22nd.
The juntas all seized control in a series of coups between 2020 and 2023. They agreed in 2024 to tackle security threats jointly after all severed long-held military and diplomatic ties with regional allies, France, and other Western nations.
Salifou Mody, Niger’s defence minister, said the force would have its own air assets, equipment, and intelligence resources and operate across the territory of all three countries, which have formed a joint pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Reuters
