West African regional army: Why thousands of soldiers are deploying
Al Jazeera
How will strained ties between ECOWAS and neighbours Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso affect the fight against armed groups?
West African nations have agreed to activate a regional standby force to combat waves of violence by cross-border armed groups in the region.
The decision was made last week at a days-long security meeting of military chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Sierra Leone, the Anadolu news agency reported. The bloc held the meeting at a time when the region faces what experts said is an “existential security threat” that has seen thousands of people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The plan includes mobilising an initial 2,000 soldiers by the end of 2026 to tackle the armed groups, which are expanding their territory and sharpening tactics in the region.
Armed groups ideologically linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have routinely attacked military outposts and civilian settlements from Mali to Nigeria. Countries are responding but in a fractured manner.
In particular, armed groups have targeted the Sahelian countries of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Increasingly, they are pressing into the coastal states of Togo and Benin.
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