Ahmad 
Niger announced that it will host the first summit of the Sahel States Alliance, which it recently formed with Burkina Faso and Mali, on July 6 in the capital, Niamey.
This summit comes after the establishment of the alliance on September 16, 2023, and aims to enhance joint defense cooperation between the three countries.
The official statement issued by the Nigerien government explained that the summit will witness the presence of General Abderrahmane Chiane, the leader of the military authority in Niger, along with his counterparts Ibrahim Traoré from Burkina Faso and Assimi Goita from Mali.
This event anticipates the ECOWAS summit meetings, which reflects the strategic importance of the Sahel States Alliance in strengthening its position in regional and international politics.
It is expected that discussions during the summit will focus on joint defense strategies and reshaping regional alliances in light of the increasing security challenges in the region.
The summit comes in light of escalating regional tensions, especially after the three countries withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the G5 Sahel, which announced its dissolution last December.
This withdrawal came after a series of military coups that these countries witnessed between 2021 and 2023, which led to radical changes in leadership and foreign policy.
The Sahel coalition was created during the 2023 Niger crisis, in which the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened military intervention to restore civilian rule after a coup in Niger earlier that year.
The primary goal of the coalition is to protect against potential threats of armed rebellion or external aggression, emphasizing that “any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more of the contracting parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties.”
Burkina Faso extends the rule of the military council for an additional five years