Fri 25 August 2023:
The Niger junta, which took power in a military coup on July 26, has forged a military alliance with neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, whose rulers also took office in coups.
On Thursday, the foreign ministers of the three countries made a joint declaration in Niamey, Niger’s capital.
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.
Niger junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani has authorised the armed forces of Mali and Burkina Faso to intervene on Nigerien territory in case of attack, the foreign ministries of the three countries said in a joint statement on Thursday.
They welcomed the signing of orders authorizing 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.
Niger is the fourth nation in West Africa since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
The pact in question allows Mali and Burkina Faso to provide military assistance to Niger in the event of military intervention against the putschists there. A similar agreement already exists between Burkina Faso and Mali.
The agreement also calls for the three countries to take joint action against terrorist groups active in their countries and secure their borders.
Following the July 26 coup in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) activated a standby force and threatened violence if the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated and constitutional order restored.
For years, the Sahel region has been threatened by a various of armed factions, some of which have pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Under Bazoum, Niger was seen as one of the West’s last strategic partners in the fight against the spread of militants in the Sahel.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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