Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have signed a mutual defense pact, known as the Alliance of Sahel States, to cooperate against threats of armed rebellion or external aggression. The alliance binds the signatories to assist each other, including militarily, in the event of an attack on any one of them. Aggression against one or more contracted parties is defined as any attack on their sovereignty and territorial integrity. The alliance will be a combination of military and economic efforts between the three countries, with the priority being the fight against terrorism in the three countries.
France-supported G5 Sahel alliance, along with Chad and Mauritania, was launched in 2017 to combat armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS. They have undergone coups since 2020, most recently in Niger, where soldiers overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum. The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to intervene militarily in Niger over the coup, but Mali and Burkina Faso have responded by saying any such operation would be deemed a “declaration of war.”