Burkina Faso and Niger, two countries affected by jihadist violence from northern Mali in 2013, invited Bamako on Monday August 22 to “come back to take responsibility”within the framework of sub-regional cooperation in the fight against jihadism.
In mid-May, the transitional authorities in Mali, prevented from assuming the presidency, decided to withdraw from the G5 Sahel and its joint force, a military alliance fighting against jihadist groups, citing a ” Autonomy loss “ and “an instrumentalization” within the regional organization formed with Mauritania, Chad, Burkina and Niger.
” We have spent (…) reviewed the sub-regional situation and we thought that Mali (…) is today the great absentee of cooperation in the field of defence”said Niger’s defense minister, Alkassoum Indattou. “We have to work so that Mali can come back and assume its responsibilities and play its role”he added.
Mr. Indattou, accompanied by his counterpart, the Burkinabe Defense Minister, General Barthélemy Simporé, spoke after a meeting with the president of the transition in Burkina Faso, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo.
Regular and deadly jihadist attacks
“Beyond these operations, we plan to carry out more regular and permanent operations on the ground between the various armed forces to ensure that they occupy the ground, take control and cannot leave a single centimeter, both in Niger and in Burkina Faso, to terrorists”said Mr. Indattou.
From April 2 to 25, soldiers from the two armies carried out a joint operation called Taanli 3 – “alliance” or “cohesion” in the Gourmantché language, spoken in eastern Burkina Faso – to neutralize “one hundred terrorists”according to the two staffs.
Burkina Faso and its neighbor Niger have been facing regular and deadly jihadist attacks for several years attributed to groups affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) organization and Al-Qaeda. They caused thousands of deaths in both countries and hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing their homes.
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