Niger has authorised Mali and Burkina Faso’s armed forces to intervene on its territory in case of an assault, the international locations mentioned in a joint assertion on Thursday, a doable signal the junta in Niger plans to maintain resisting regional stress to face down.
The primary West African bloc ECOWAS has been attempting to barter with the coup leaders however warned it is able to ship troops into Niger to revive constitutional order if diplomatic efforts fail.
Any escalation dangers additional destabilising the insurgency-torn area as Niger’s junta-led neighbours, Mali and Burkina Faso, have mentioned they might again Niger in any battle with ECOWAS.
On Thursday, the three allies’ international ministers mentioned that they had met within the Nigerien capital Niamey to debate boosting cooperation on safety and different joint points.
The assertion mentioned the ministers welcomed the signing on Thursday by Niger junta chief Common Abdourahamane Tiani of two orders “authorising the Protection and Safety Forces of Burkina Faso and Mali to intervene on Nigerien territory within the occasion of an assault.”
“The Burkinabe and Malian Ministers … reiterated their rejection of an armed intervention in opposition to the folks of Niger which will likely be thought-about as a declaration of conflict,” it mentioned.
