By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The junta-led West African nations of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have carried out “intense air campaigns” in Malian territory, in response to attacks by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists, Nigerien authorities confirm.
Last weekend, jihadists and their Tuareg separatist allies launched a heavy assault on Mali, said the be the largest in nearly 15 years, capturing the key northern town of Kidal.
The three neighbours – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger make up the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and had created a joint force against jihadist groups of 5,000 fighters, increased to 15,000 in mid-April.
Authorities in Niger “welcome… the prompt and vigorous response of the units of the unified force… which conducted intense air campaigns in the hours following the cowardly attacks of April 25, 2026, in Gao, Menaka and Kidal,” the government of Niger said on Thursday after a cabinet meeting.
The spokesperson for the Malian Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, had called on Burkina Faso and Niger “to stay out of the events underway in Mali” a few hours after the attacks began.
The three AES nations are all led by juntas that came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.
The attacks against the Malian military junta and its Russian paramilitary backers have plunged the former French colony into a major security crisis, leading to the killing of Defence Minister Sadio Camara.
Burkina Faso Defence Minister Celestin Simpore, speaking on behalf of the AES, vowed at Camara’s funeral on Thursday to “hunt down” the “assassins.”
Authorities in Niger have accused foreign powers, primarily France, of sponsoring the weekend attacks in Mali.
Niger has repeatedly accused France of seeking to destabilise it, an accusation Paris denies.
The Nigerien government has cancelled May 1 parades throughout the country for security reasons.
