The joint anti-jihadist force of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali carried out “intense air campaigns” in Malian territory following attacks by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists that captured the key northern town of Kidal and killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara, authorities in Niger confirmed late Thursday. The African neighbours, who together make up the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), created a joint force against jihadist groups of 5,000 men, 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 evening after a cabinet meeting. The spokesperson for the Malian Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front 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. Burkina Faso Defence Minister Celestin Simpore, speaking on behalf of the AES, vowed at Camara’s funeral on Thursday to “hunt down” the “assassins.”
Around a thousand people gathered in the Nigerien capital of Niamey on Thursday to express “solidarity with the Malian people.” Effred Mouloul, a representative from the coalition of civil society groups behind the event, said, “To the Malian people, we say: ‘You are not alone, the active forces of Niger and of the AES stand by your side and express their full and complete solidarity.'” He blamed African leaders for the “total lack of visible solidarity in the face of the targeted assassination” of Mali leaders and called for the withdrawal of French presence from AES territory.
Authorities in Niger have accused foreign powers, primarily France, of sponsoring the weekend attacks in Mali, a charge Paris denies. The Nigerien government has cancelled May Day parades throughout the country for security reasons. From a geopolitical perspective, the escalating conflict in the Sahel has significant implications for regional stability, trade routes, and counterterrorism efforts. The AES joint military action represents a new phase in the region’s security landscape, with the juntas consolidating military cooperation while severing ties with traditional Western partners.
