Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba is going to Mali this Saturday, September 3 for a friendly and working visit. This is the Burkinabè president’s first official visit to Bamako since he took power on January 24th. With his Malian counterpart, the two personalities will review several subjects of interest, within the framework of bilateral cooperation. But Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba travels to first discuss military cooperation, in order to curb the action of armed terrorist groups.
With our correspondent in Ouagadougou, Yaya Boudani
Since the withdrawal of Mali from the G5 Sahel force, Burkina Faso wants to strengthen its military cooperation with its neighbor, according to a source close to power. ” Many terrorists go back and forth between Burkina Faso and Mali, and the president of Faso wants to launch military operations in the north », Specifies our source, who underlines that these operations cannot be carried out without the participation of Mali.
Burkina Faso wants Mali to officially join the coalition set up with Niger on August 22, in order to form a tripartite anti-jihadist force.
The case of the 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested in Mali will also be on the menu of exchanges between the two heads of state. President Paul Henri Damiba wants Mali and Côte d’Ivoire to emerge from this crisis through dialogue, in the interest of the three countries, according to our information. ” Terrorist groups are projecting themselves into the western part of Burkina. Another area of the three borders between Burkina Faso, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire “, insists our source.
It is a diplomatic mission not only to avoid an isolation of Mali, within the framework of the fight against terrorism, but also to prevent these armed terrorist groups from occupying another zone of the three borders, says our source.