Thursday, September 19, 2024
HomenewsCoup: Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali juntas form military pact

Coup: Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali juntas form military pact

The three countries’ foreign ministers made a joint announcement in Niamey, Niger’s capital.

The accord allows Mali and Burkina Faso to provide military assistance to Niger in the event of military attack against the putschists there.

A similar agreement already exists between Burkina Faso and Mali.

Following the July coup in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) activated a standby force and threatened military invasion if the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated and constitutional order restored.

Talks between ECOWAS and the Nigerien junta took place previous weekend.

The agreement which was announced also calls for the three countries to take joint action against terrorist groups active in their countries and secure their borders.

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For years, the countries in the Sahel region have been threatened by various terrorist militias, some of which have sworn allegiance to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.

Under Mr Bazoum, Niger was considered one of the last strategic partners of the West in the fight against the advance of Islamist terrorists in the Sahel.

Meanwhile, The foreign ministers of Burkina Faso and Mali, Olivia Rouamba and Abdoulaye Diop, visited Niamey on Thursday, where they were received by Niger’s new ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani.

They welcomed the signing of orders authorising the armies of Burkina Faso and Mali “to intervene on Niger territory in the event of aggression”, said a statement read out by the deputy secretary general of Niger’s foreign ministry.

Army officers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, prompting the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to threaten to use force to reinstate him.

Niger is the fourth nation in West Africa since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

The juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali have said that any military intervention in their neighbour would be considered a “declaration of war” against their countries.

And Tiani warned in a televised address on Saturday: “If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think.”

(AFP/NAN)

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