Name: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger launch Sahel regional force
Uploaded: 2025-12-21T17:44:27.362Z
Duration: 2 min 8 s
Description: The 5000-strong force is the latest in a series of measures by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to achieve closer integration.

The 5000-strong force is the latest in a series of measures by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to achieve closer integration.

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have announced the creation of a unified regional force aimed at improving security coordination in the Sahel. The announcement was made during a ceremony at an Air Force base in Bamako, presided over by Mali's General Assimi Goita. The new force includes a joint command post in Niamey and dedicated battalions from each country.

The initiative comes as the three countries, all led by military juntas, face ongoing threats from armed groups and have recently withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), citing sanctions. Alongside military measures, the Sahel Alliance is also launching AES TV, radio, and print media to counter what they describe as media threats.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger launch Sahel regional force

At an Air Force base in Bamako, Mali's Army Ruler General Assimi Goita presided over a ceremony marking the creation of a unified force for the Sahel countries. The force is the latest in a series of measures by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to achieve closer integration. Today, with the installation of the new commander of the unified force, the establishment of the joint command post in Niamey, and the designation of battalions dedicated to the unified force, it is now up to the new command to not only anticipate on the new modus operandi of armed terrorist groups and, above all, to continue to take over and continue this fight to secure the Sahel region. The ceremony on Saturday precedes the second ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State of the Sahel Alliance scheduled for Sunday in Bamako. The three countries are all led by juntas and are beset by an Islamist insurgency. Currently, our armed forces face three types of threats in the fight against armed terrorist groups – armed terrorist threats, economic terrorist threats and media terrorist threats. The media terrorist threat and, thank God, today the AES, the Confederation, has taken steps to counter these various threats, not only with the establishment of this unified force that will take over, but also with the creation of AES TV and all these mechanisms – AES TV, AES radio and the AES print media. These measures will enable us to counter all these threats. El Faso, Mali and Niger form the Sahel Alliance after withdrawing from ECOWAS, which the Alliance accuses of inhumane, co-related sanctions.

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