A year after its charter was formalized and its confederation established, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, frequently faces scrutiny regarding its ability to fulfill its core commitment: mutual defense. Amid recent security escalations and significant jihadist assaults impacting Nigerien territory, the noticeable absence of a joint armed response has prompted questions among local populations and regional observers alike.
Several structural and strategic factors contribute to this operational inertia observed on the ground in Niger.
Overstretched national militaries
The primary constraint remains the saturation of the national armed forces. Each member state of the alliance confronts intense security threats within its own borders:
- In Mali: The national army and its allies continue to concentrate efforts on asserting control over the North and Centre regions, battling the Permanent Strategic Framework (JIM) and groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda. This ongoing focus on internal threats highlights the broader Mali security news landscape.
- In Burkina Faso: More than half of the territory endures constant pressure from persistent terrorist attacks.
- In Niger: Security forces must simultaneously secure the critical tri-border region (Liptako-Gourma) against the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS), while also monitoring the volatile Lake Chad basin.
Given this demanding environment, none of the three states possess sufficient strategic reserves to deploy a substantial contingent to a neighboring country without compromising their own national defense capabilities.
Logistical hurdles for a joint force
Although the political decision to unify forces was agreed upon during AES Confederation summits, the practical implementation of this joint force encounters significant material challenges:
- Interoperability and command: Harmonizing disparate military doctrines and establishing an integrated chain of command demands considerable time and robust, secure transmission networks.
- Air support and intelligence: Projecting troops over vast distances across the Sahel requires extensive armored transport, resupply capabilities, and aerial intelligence assets (such as drones and combat aircraft). These capacities remain limited and are heavily utilized locally within each nation.
The role of external partners
The departure of traditional military forces, notably France and the UN mission MINUSMA, has led the three military regimes to redirect their partnerships towards Russia, particularly through the deployment of the paramilitary Africa Corps. However, these support forces are primarily deployed under bilateral agreements and are not principally tasked with conducting cross-border operations under the AES banner.
A strategic emphasis on intelligence
Beyond large-scale troop projection, AES authorities emphasize an alternative form of cooperation: intelligence sharing and targeted operations along borders. For the Sahelian general staffs, intervention does not necessarily manifest as a vast, visible deployment, but rather as coordinated actions within the tri-border area, where each army primarily operates from its own sovereign territory.
