The President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum has revealed that the G5 Sahel multinational force fighting Islamist insurgents in West Africa is “dead” after Mali announced it was pulling out.
The force includes troops from Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso as well as Mauritania and was established in 2017 to curb jihadists who have encroached on the Sahel region, killed thousands of people and rendered millions homeless.
The decision of Mali to withdraw came up after a breakdown in relations with regional allies and with former colonial ruler France, triggered by the junta’s reluctance to conduct elections after two successive coups.
While talking to French Newspaper La Croix in a recent interview, Bazoum said: “The G5 Sahel is dead. The isolation of Bamako in West Africa is bad for the whole sub-region.”
A presidential spokesperson corroborated his comments by saying: “His position on the G5 Sahel is clear.”
The force has been stifled by a lack of funding and has strived to reduce the violence. Mali’s junta announced recently that it would pull out, blaming a lack of success in the fight against the Islamists.
As expected, 2400 French troops and 900 special forces in a French-led European task force will leave Mali in the coming months. Niger will host some of them, giving it a more paramount role in the region’s fight against Islamists.
