The three member countries of the Sahel Alliance have officially declared a state of “maximum alert” of their national defense and security forces.
Leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced the decision in a joint statement, signed by Interim President of Mali and Chairman of the Sahel Alliance, Assimi Goita.
“The College of national leaders closely follows the deceiving maneuvers, initiated by the French junta, who declares the shutdown of its military bases only to replace them with another, less visible mechanism, which pursues the same neo-colonial goal,” they said in the statement.
“These actions are accompanied by operations on reorganization and regrouping of terrorist groups in the Lake Chad basin, in Sahel and in some border areas, including borders between Niger and Nigeria, Niger and Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso. These groups receive various support from foreign states, including funds and equipment, intended for destabilization of the Sahel Alliance,” the statement read.
In light of these threats, the alliance vowed to take their security forces to maximum alert and “make the confederacy’s territory a single theater of military operation”.
Modern military equipment
On Monday morning, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, personally supervised the delivery of strategic military logistics equipment as part of his effort to strengthen the national forces.
Among the equipment delivered were vehicles resembling the “Armored Infantry Combat Type” as well as tanks, local media reported.
This new equipment aims to strengthen the operational capabilities of the Burkina Faso armed forces, illustrating a firm commitment to national security, Traoré explained.
Meanwhile, France began withdrawing more troops from Chad, this past weekend, according to the Chadian Defense Ministry, after ending its military cooperation with the former colonial power last month.
Chad gave Paris six weeks to remove 1,000 soldiers and their equipment by 31 January 2025.
French soldiers and fighter aircraft have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country’s independence in 1960.
Chad was the last country to host the French military in Africa’s Sahel region after Paris withdrew units from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
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