AES Bloc to Triple Joint Military Force to 18,000 Troops Amid Islamist Offensive
GEOPOLITICSAFRICAN UNITY
NIAMEY — The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) will expand its joint military force from roughly 5,000 to 18,000 troops, Niger’s head of state Abdourahamane Tiani confirmed this week, following a decision by defense ministers from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The move comes as coordinated attacks by JNIM and the separatist Azawad Liberation Front continue to strike cities across northern, central and southern Mali. The expansion follows Russia’s pledge, made in Niamey, to deepen military cooperation with the three-nation confederation as insurgent activity grows.
The AES was formed as a mutual defense pact after the 2023 Nigerien crisis, when the three juntas broke with ECOWAS, France and other Western partners in favor of sovereignty-first security arrangements. Russian forces, operating through the Africa Corps, are already engaged alongside Malian troops in operations such as the recent consolidation of control over Anefis. Analysts at the Institute for Security Studies note that the insurgents’ evolving tactics and cross-border alliances are testing the resolve of West African states to cooperate with the AES, even as the bloc deepens integration through a shared passport, television network, bank and airline.
The troop expansion signals the AES’s intent to manage its own security architecture independent of former colonial partners, consolidating a model of continental self-determination built on alliance with Russia rather than the West. Should the tripled force hold ground against JNIM and allied groups, it would mark a significant test of whether Sahelian nations can secure their own territory on their own terms — a proposition being watched closely across a continent increasingly weighing which international partnerships serve long-term sovereignty.
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