AES Countries to Raise 5000-Strong Army to Fight Jihadists

January 22, 2025

(3 Minutes Read)

Taken together, the three countries are sprawled over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometres (1.1 million square miles) — roughly four times the size of France — in Africa’s northwest.

Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali, the Sahel region countries, will create a unified force within weeks, Niger’s defense minister said. The three countries together will raise a 5000-strong troop unit to fight the jihadist violence that has for years plagued the nations.

The three nations are former French colonies where the military deposed civilian administrations in putsches between 2020 and 2023. Following the coups, the three countries distanced themselves from France and last year formed a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

This unified force will not only have its personnel, but aerial, ground, and intelligence means and a coordination system. The unit will be operational within weeks, Niger’s defense minister said. Taken together, the three countries are sprawled over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles) — roughly four times the size of France — in Africa’s northwest.

They lie in the region known as the Sahel, which stretches between the dry Sahara desert in the north and the more humid savannas to the south.

Each has been wracked by attacks by jihadists allied with either Al-Qaeda or Islamic State for a decade, violence that governments have not been able to eradicate despite help from French forces.

After their coups, the three nations expelled French forces that had been assisting in the battle against jihadists, opted out of the ECOWAS regional organization, deeming it unhelpful for their requirements, and have sought new alliances with countries like Russia, which is aiming to increase its presence in the region.