Sahel and Sahara states vow to keep fighting terrorism

Ahmed Adel

Sahel and Sahara states have vowed to keep fighting the terrorist groups that threaten the security and stability of their region.

They called on Thursday for activating joint military cooperation in the fight against these groups.

The same states added in the final communiqué of the 9th session of the Defense and Security Committee meeting of the Sahel and Saraha states, which include Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso, which was held in Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, that their armies would stand against terrorism.

Mohamed Aznaki Ould Sayed Ahmed, a security and military expert at the Permanent Secretariat of the Sahel and Sahara Group, commended the latest moves of the group.

These moves, he said, prove that the Sahel and Sahara Group is following the correct course.

He added that the group has resolve to fight terrorist organizations active in the Sahel and Sahara region more than ever before.

France’s armed forces chief in the Sahel and Sahara region Gen. Francois Lecointre said Sahel and Sahara countries do their best to keep the lid on terrorism in their region, despite limited resources in these countries.

He said international partners and financiers would continue to offer support to the countries of the region in the coming days.

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso, Gen. Moise Miningou pointed up the difficult security conditions in the Sahel and Sahara region.

There is increasing violence and terrorism in the region, Gen. Miningou said.

He added that this violence and terrorism posed threats to the development process in the five states of the region.

Apart from terrorism, the Sahel and Sahara region, which extends from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahara, brims with political, geographic and demographic problems.

These problems have their toll on political and security conditions in the region.