Three junta leaders create defense alliance

Three junta leaders create defense alliance
fullscreen Mali’s junta leader Assimi Goïta, wearing a green beret, during a military parade in celebration of Mali’s Independence Day 2022. File photo. Photo: AP/TT

The junta leaders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have agreed on a defense alliance. They notify the three governments jointly through Mali’s leader, Colonel Assimi Goïta.

On X, formerly Twitter, Goïta writes that “The Sahel states’ alliance AES aims to establish a collective defense and mutual aid to the civilian population”.

The three countries have all for a decade fought jihadist insurgencies that plague the population.

The countries have also seen power shifts in the form of military coups in the past three years, in Mali in 2020, in Bukina faso last year and in Niger in July.

– Our alliance will be a combination of military and economic efforts. Our priority is the fight against terrorism in all three countries, says Mali’s Defense Minister Abdoulaye Diop at a press conference.

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