Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, three countries in the Sahel region of West Africa governed by military juntas, signed a security agreement on Saturday in which they pledged to help each other in the event of any rebellion or external aggression.
The three countries are making efforts to contain insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and their relations with their neighbors and international partners have also been strained due to the coups.
The recent coup in Niger caused an additional rift between the three countries and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which threatened to use force to restore constitutional rule in the country.
Mali and Burkina Faso pledged to provide assistance to Niger if it was attacked.
The charter of the agreement, known as the Alliance of Sahel States, stated that “any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more of the signatory parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties.”
He added that the other two countries would provide assistance individually or collectively, including the use of armed force.
“Today I signed with the presidents of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Gourma Pact to create a coalition of Sahel countries with the aim of creating a framework for collective defense and mutual assistance,” Mali’s military junta head, Assimi Gueta, said on the social media site X.
The three countries were members of the joint force of the French-backed G5 Sahel coalition with Chad and Mauritania, which was formed in 2017 to confront Islamist groups in the region.
Since then, Mali has left the dormant organization after a military coup, and Niger's ousted President Mohamed Bazoum said in May last year that the force was now "dead" following Mali's departure.
Relations between France and the three countries have been tense since the coups.
France was forced to withdraw its forces from Mali and Burkina Faso, and is now in a tense confrontation with the military junta that seized power in Niger after it was asked to withdraw its forces and its ambassador.
France refuses to recognize the authority of the military junta.
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