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Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have met to discuss a joint defence strategy in response to the announcement by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS military intervention in the coup. Military staff of the three countries met in the Nigerien capital Niamey to decide on “concrete measures” in case ECOWAS chooses to “escalate a war,” according to local media reports on Saturday.

Not another one. As I have repeatedly warned my readers, leaders all over the globe seem to have come down with a really bad case of war fever. Instead of sitting down and attempting to find solutions through diplomacy, many of our leaders seem quite eager to use military force to settle matters these days. There is no peaceful end to the war in Ukraine on the horizon, China is making preparations to invade Taiwan, and the “shadow war” in the Middle East could easily erupt into a full-blown regional conflict. But in this article I am going to focus...

Mali and Burkina Faso dispatched warplanes Friday to Niger in a show of solidarity against possible military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). A report aired on Niger's state television highlighted joint efforts by Mali and Burkina Faso in support of Niger and the deployment of warplanes within Niger's borders, Anadolu Agency reported. "Mali and Burkina Faso turned their commitments into concrete action by deploying warplanes to respond to any attack on Niger," it said, noting the planes were Super Tucano fighter jets. During a meeting Friday of the ECOWAS chief of staff in Ghana, the...

I was sent this video regarding banks freezing the accounts of ECOWAS to force them to take military action against Niger. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Considered one of the pillar regional blocs of the continent-wide African Economic Community (AEC), the stated goal of ECOWAS is to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for its member states by creating a single large trade bloc by building a full economic and trading union. ECOWAS also serves as a peacekeeping...

Russia has warned that military intervention in Niger would lead to a "protracted confrontation" after regional bloc Ecowas said it would assemble a standby force.Such an intervention would destabilise the Sahel region as a whole, the Russian foreign ministry said.Russia does not formally back the coup.But the US, which backs efforts to restore deposed leader Mohamed Bazoum, says its Wagner mercenary group is taking advantage of the instability.On Friday coup supporters, some waving Russian flags, protested at a French military base near the capital NIamey, some chanting "down with France, down with Ecowas".Both France and the US operate military bases...

For now, the junta in Niger seems to be winning its standoff with its West African neighbors and the West. A Sunday deadline put forward by regional bloc ECOWAS for the generals to step aside and restore democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to power elapsed, with little sign of countries like Nigeria or Senegal readying a military intervention. Instead, in a dramatic show of defiance, the coup leaders staged a massive rally at a stadium in the capital Niamey, where a top general warned against anyone threatening “Niger’s forward march,” while hundreds in the stands waved Nigerien and even some...

An attempted coup was underway Wednesday in the fragile nation of Niger, where members of the Presidential Guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum, triggering a standoff with the army, sources said. The head of the West African bloc ECOWAS said Benin President Patrice Talon was heading to Niger on a mediation bid after the region was struck by a new bout of turbulence. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union both decried what they called an "attempted coup d'etat," while the UN secretary-general said he had spoken to the apparently-detained leader and offered support.

For quite a long time now, China has been behaving like a power that owns Africa and all its resources. Having debt trapped countries, the red rogue nation has been looking to seize control of their strategic assets, with the ultimate goal of establishing bases for itself across the continent. China has been pursuing a neo-colonial agenda for quite some time, but countries of Africa are now coming together to kick China out of the continent. An interesting phenomenon is beginning to make a comeback in Africa. The vast continent is no novice when it comes to military rule and...

A week after French aircraft rushed to the aid of a defeated and demoralised Malian army, French ground forces have begun fighting alongside the Malian army in Diabaly, a town 350 km north of capital Bamako. Since last year, northern Mali has been overrun by Islamist rebels organised under the banners of the Ansar Dine, the Movement for Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Last Friday, France sent in jets, helicopter gunships, and special forces to Central Mali as Islamist rebels advanced till 50 km from a major military base in Sevare, and captured...

Militants Islamist in Mali say they have entered the key central town of Konna, advancing further into government-held territory. This is the most serious fighting since Islamist groups captured the north from government forces in April 2012. The army has not commented on the claim by the Ansar Dine group that its fighters are in Konna. Earlier, it said it had advanced on Douentza, a central town held by another Islamist group. A resident in Douentza said no fighting had so far taken place for control of the town, about 800km (500 miles) north-east of the capital, Bamako. It was...

BAMAKO - Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants have joined forces in northern Mali and say they will create an independent Islamist state. The groups took advantage of a military coup in Bamako to seize control of the territory in early April. Resistance is growing in the north to the efforts to introduce Islamic law. In the northern Malian town of Gao, court is in session. Commissioner Abdoulaye Maiga begins by reading from the Quran in the roadside courtyard outside the former police station. Once an area businessman, Maiga is a member of the militant Islamist sect Ansar Dine that residents...

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday urged the global community to help defuse a crisis in Mali by giving United Nations backing to a West African-led military intervention. Hollande, making his first speech to the UN General Assembly, said Mali needs help to seize back territory from Islamist rebels, who captured the north and east of the country after a coup created a power vacuum in March. France has offered to supply logistical support for any military force, in what is a delicate situation for the former colonial power, with six French hostages held in the area by AQIM. The...

Paris and its allies are working on an intervention to rid the region of the terrorist threat. The principle of military action against AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) is now established. The capitals of numerous countries are actively working to develop a politico-military strategy intended to rid the region of the terrorist threat. Because it is targeted by AQIM, France is at the forefront of future operation, which will be composed of the backbone forces of ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West Africa. Bogged down in Afghanistan for over ten years, their budget strained, the French army were warned...

The military chiefs of 15 West Africa nations have begun deliberations to "finalize a roadmap" for an armed intervention in Mali, whose northern half is occupied by al-Qaida-linked Islamists. Interim President Dioncounda Traore on Sept. 1 asked the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, for air support to destroy rebel bases and for five battalions to help reconquer northern towns. The meeting's agenda includes a review of that request and a presentation of a deployment plan.

As Tuareg rebels battle radical Islamists with heavy weapons for control of the northern Mali city of Gao, Mali and the other 15 nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are planning a military offensive designed to drive both groups out of northern Mali in an effort to re-impose order in the region and prevent the six-month old conflict from destabilizing the entire region. So far, however, operational planning has not been detailed enough to gain the approval of the UN Security Council for authorization of a Chapter Seven military intervention, leaving ECOWAS and the African Union...

ABIDJAN, 16 Sep 2003 (IRIN) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday asked the Security Council to authorize the deployment of 15,000 peacekeeping troops and 875 police officers to war-ravaged Liberia, as part of an enlarged UN mission to the West African country. He said in a report to the Security Council that the mission, to be known as UNMIL, would support the Transitional Government headed by businessman Gyude Bryant, which is due to take office on 14 October, and help it to extend state authority throughout Liberia. Bryant was chosen by a Liberian peace conference last month...

African media fears over Liberia The arrival of Nigerian peacekeepers in Monrovia received a cautious welcome in African newspapers this week. But Africa's ability to tackle the situation and Nigeria's offer of asylum to beleaguered President Charles Taylor were questioned, and there was scorn for the US's apparent decision to be only "symbolically" involved. The New Democrat , a Netherlands-based web newspaper styling itself "an independent Liberian voice", had stern warnings for those seeking to restore order in the country. On the one hand, it said, Liberians should abandon any thought of the USA riding to the rescue. "All players......

CRAWFORD, Texas Aug. 5 — President Bush has authorized a small contingent of U.S. troops to enter Liberia to provide logistical support for West African peacekeeping forces in the war-ravaged country, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Bush approved the contingent of six-10 U.S. troops Tuesday morning, at his ranch. The troops could enter Liberia as early as Wednesday, the official said, and the team could grow to as large as 20 in coming days. A defense official in Washington, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the deployment, but...

U.S. Marines may soon go ashore in Liberia. A senior government official, who doesn't want to be identified, said there is a probability that Marines will be sent in to assist. They are currently on warships off the Liberian coast. Peacekeepers from other African countries began arriving in Liberia Monday and are setting up defenses at the main airport. Officers said they won't move into Monrovia until more troops arrive. Liberian President Charles Taylor has promised to step down, but only when enough peacekeepers arrive, and after a war crimes indictment against him is dropped. Copyright 2003 Associated Press,...

MONROVIA - Liberia's president appears to be backing away from a promise to leave his war-battered country and take up asylum in Nigeria. Charles Taylor agreed to quit his post next Monday in a bid to end fighting between government forces and rebel groups. But on Tuesday, a Nigerian official said Taylor is now demanding that a war crimes court in neighbouring Sierra Leone drop charges against him before he leaves the country. Taylor's latest demand comes just a day after the first contingent of West African troops arrived in Liberia to oversee his departure. Nigerian soldiers arrived by...