APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – On August 30, the Council of Ministers approved a bill authorising the dispatch of a Burkinabe military contingent to defend the military junta in Niger.
Transitional parliamentarians voted unanimously on Tuesday to send Burkina Faso soldiers to Niger during a plenary session of parliament.
The parliamentarians thus provide a legal framework for the deployment of a military contingent from Burkina to Niger.
“In practice, the aim will be to provide the necessary capabilities to significantly improve the balance of power (…). The military assistance will consist of providing a strong hand and capacity support in fairly specific areas,” explained Colonel-Major Kassoum Coulibaly.
The contingent will range from a few individuals to thousands, but will also include civilians and army auxiliaries, according to the defense minister.
They will be deployed for a renewable period of three months.
As for the cost, he explained that the contingent will be included in the budget allocated for operations to secure the national territory.
“The contingent will be deployed as part of ongoing operations to secure the national territory, in line with the joint operations that our two countries often carry out. The contingent will therefore be paid for from the resources earmarked for securing the national territory,” stressed Minister Koulibaly.
The conditions for the deployment of the soldiers will be determined by “mutual agreement” between the authorities of Burkina and Niger, the government added.
Officers and military equipment already deployed
By Friday, August 18, 2023, Burkina Faso and Mali had already deployed combat aircraft to “respond to any form of aggression against Niger”.
On August 24, the president of the Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP), General Abdourahmane Tiani, had signed orders authorising the defense and security forces (FDS) of Burkina and Mali to intervene in Niger in the event of “aggression”.
Senior officers and specialists from both countries have been in Niamey for days to plan a response in case the ECOWAS standby force is sent to Niger.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger also agreed in early August to work together to reduce the “perverse effects” of the economic and political sanctions imposed on Niger by the community.
Last weekend, the three military-led countries signed the Liptako-Gourma Charter establishing the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS).
Following the military junta’s seizure of power and the decision by ECOWAS heads of state to activate the standby force to intervene in Niamey, Bamako and Ouagadougou warned that “any military intervention against Niger will be considered a declaration of war” by both countries.
SD/ac/lb/as/APA