Military leaders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso sign mutual defence pact
CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR 18TH SEPTEMBER, 2023
Military leaders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso sign mutual defence pact
The military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed a mutual defence pact in Bamako.
• The Liptako-Gourma Charter establishes the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with the aim to "establish an architecture of collective defence and mutual assistance".
It will be combination of military and economic efforts between the signatories.
The charter binds the countries to assist one another on the event of an attack on any one of them; and to work to prevent or settle armed rebellions.
• Liptako-Gourma region is where the borders of the three Sahel countries meet. It has been ravaged by jihadism in recent years.
• A jihadist insurgency that erupted in nothern Mali in 2012 spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015. All three countries have undergone coups since 2020.
• The three countries are also collectively standing against the West African regional bloc ECOWAS after the Niger coup of July 23.