The declaration by the leaders of these countries notes that such measures were taken in connection with the actions of France, which announced the closure of its military bases in some African countries.
The leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which are part of the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS) confederation, have decided to put their defense and security forces on maximum combat alert. This is stated in the declaration of the leaders of the three countries that are part of the ACS, which was signed by the President of the transitional period of Mali, Chairman of the ACS confederation Assimi Goita.
“The College of Heads of State is following with great attention the deceptive maneuvers initiated by the French junta, which announces the closure of its military bases in some African countries to replace them with a less visible mechanism, but pursuing the same neocolonial goal,” the document, published by the information portal AES Info, notes.
“These actions [by France] are supplemented by operations to reorganize and regroup terrorist groups in the Lake Chad basin, in the Sahel and some border areas, in particular between Niger and Nigeria, Niger and Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso, Benin and Burkina Faso. They receive various types of support from foreign countries, in particular financial and logistical resources aimed at destabilizing the ACS,” the Alliance leaders believe.
In connection with these circumstances, the Collegium of Heads of State of the ACS decided to “bring the defense and security forces to maximum combat readiness, to make the confederation space a single theater of military operations, coexisting with the current national military theaters.”
