Burkina Faso Approves Military Deployment to Niger Republic to Counter ECOWAS Force

Burkina Faso has approved a bill authorising the dispatch of troops to neighbouring Niger Republic, which faces threats of military intervention to restore civilian rule following a coup.

PulseNets reports that the draft law was approved in a meeting of Burkina Faso’s military-dominated government on Thursday. It gave no details about the deployment of the force but said these had been determined “by joint agreement” between the two countries.

Defense Minister Kassoum Coulibaly said that sending a military contingent to Niger “is a continuation of the struggle against terrorism.”

Poorly equipped, the armed forces in all three Sahel countries have been struggling against a jihadist campaign that flared in northern Mali in 2012 and three years later moved into Niger and Burkina Faso. Across the region, thousands of civilians, police, and troops have been killed.

In Burkina Faso alone, which underwent two coups last year, more than two million people have fled their homes, and at least a third of the country lies outside the government’s control.

The West African bloc ECOWAS has warned of intervening militarily if diplomatic efforts to return Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, to power fail. This has prompted Mali and Burkina to say any operation would be tantamount to a “declaration of war” on themselves.

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Niger’s new leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, last week signed a decree authorizing those countries’ forces to intervene “in the event of external armed aggression or destabilisation.”

Coulibaly said that “what affects security in Niger fundamentally affects security in Burkina Faso.” He added that the deployment of troops to Niger “is a necessary step to prevent the spread of terrorism and instability in the region.”