Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have teamed up to form a joint military force of 5,000 troops whose job it will be to tackle armed groups in the Sahel region. This was announced on 20 January by Niger’s Defence Minister, General Salifou Mody, during a chat with the Nigerien state broadcaster RTN.

Mody mentioned that this new force will have ground, air and intelligence capabilities, enabling it to operate across all three countries.

The unified military effort is the fruit of collaboration between AES members, aimed at addressing the long-standing instability caused by terrorist activities in the area. Despite French military operations from 2013 to 2022 (Operations Serval and Barkhane) in five countries - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - insecurity has continued to increase. The US also had military bases in Niger, but last year Niamey sent US personnel packing.