In March, the chiefs of staff of the three countries making up the new Sahel alliance announced the creation of a joint anti-jihadist force.
In a statement on Monday, the General Staff of the Malian armed forces said that operations had been carried out by the armed forces of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger as part of the joint force of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES, French acronym) against terrorism.
According to the statement, several terrorists were neutralised as part of the operations and important logistical bases in the border areas destroyed.
On 10 April, effective coordination enabled the Niger army to carry out a decisive strike, destroying a major logistical operation and neutralising several terrorists in the Amalawlaw area, in the Labbezanga sector of southern Mali.
Three days later, the Malian army carried out another operation near the village of Hourara, some 12 km north-west of Labbezanga, on the Mali-Niger border.
This time, according to the Malian army’s general staff, a significant amount of military equipment was destroyed and several terrorists neutralised.
On the same day, in the Douna sector, on the border between Mali and Burkina Faso, a joint operation involving Malian and Burkina Faso forces led to the dismantling of a major logistical base used by terrorist groups, according to the statement seen by APA.
The heads of the armies of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, countries ruled by military regimes, announced in Niamey on Wednesday 6 March the creation of a “joint force” to combat the jihadist groups operating in large parts of their territory.
The presidents of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed the Lipatko-Gouma charter to create the ESA. The three countries left the G5 Sahel, created in 2014 with Chad and Mauritania to fight terrorism.
AC/lb/as/APA