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The leader of Burkina Faso has announced a new military campaign with Mali and Niger aimed at taking out extremist groups operating in the Sahel region.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: For decades, terrorists operating across the Sahel have exploited weak state control, vast desert terrain, and open borders to wage a brutal insurgency in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIS dominate the threat landscape. These groups routinely target civilians, carrying out mass killings in villages, executions, kidnappings for ransom, and attacks on schools, markets, and places of worship, while also ambushing military convoys and seizing weapons. Their violence has displaced millions, destabilized entire regions, and turned large parts of the Sahel into one of the deadliest epicenters of extremist activity in the world.
What’s going on now: During a meeting between the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the three military-led governments formally launched a 5,000-strong unified military force under the “Alliance of Sahel States” (AES). This new regional battalion, called the FU-AES, is designed to integrate air power, intelligence sharing, and coordinated ground operations across the three countries. According to officials, its mission will be to hunt down, dismantle, and eliminate terrorist networks that have plagued the Sahel for over a decade.
The FU-AES force will operate under a centralized command post in Niamey, Niger, with each country committing specialized battalions to joint missions. Officials say that several successful joint operations have already taken place quietly, with key terrorist leaders neutralized and bases destroyed.
Burkina Faso’s leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, warned of a looming “Black Winter” in West Africa, describing it as a phase of external interference, destabilization, and media warfare aimed at breaking the will of Sahelian nations. His Malian counterpart, General Assimi Goïta, called the launch of the joint force a historic milestone and praised the region’s defense forces for their courage and coordination.
