Mali, Burkina Faso deploy warplanes in Niger after ECOWAS threat

Mali and Burkina Faso have deployed fighter jets to Niger Republic following threat of invasion by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to topple the military junta and restore democracy in the country.

Alarmed by a series of military takeovers in the region, ECOWAS at its Second Extraordinary Summit on Niger last week in Abuja, agreed to activate a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger.

Recall that The bloc’s military chiefs met in Ghana to discuss a possible armed intervention to reverse the coup in Niger, just as Germany called for European Union (EU) sanctions against the rebel leaders.

At the meeting in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the defence chiefs said they are prepared to reinstate the democratic order in Niger. The Accra meeting of top army commanders, which continues today, is coming after fresh violence in Niger, with jihadists killing at least 17 soldiers in an ambush.

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Burkina Faso and Mali warned that any military intervention in Niger would be considered a declaration of war against them.

ECOWAS had threatened to declare war on Niger Republic if the junta failed to reinstate the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

However, both governments said any military intervention in Niger would destabilise the region.

A joint statement by both governments reads partly: “The disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger could destabilise the entire region.”

Meanwhile, the Ecowas parliament is divided over a military intervention. Member countries such as Nigeria, which currently holds the rotating chair, are also being put under internal pressure. Protesters took to the streets in Kano, the biggest city in northern Nigeria, against a possible invasion of Niger.

For their part, countries that neighbour Niger but do not belong to Ecowas, such as Chad and Algeria, have opposed the use of force.

Russia has been careful not to support the coup plotters so as not to upset its allies in Africa, such as South Africa and Namibia, who both oppose the coup. But a full-scale military intervention would provide Moscow with an opportunity to get involved and “gain another ally”. The military leaders in Burkina Faso for instance have been strengthening their relationship with Russia.