The Group of Five Sahel countries was established in 2014 by 5 countries: Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Chad, and its goal is to combat terrorism and drug and human trafficking across its common borders, and it launched its own anti-terrorism force in 2017.
Complicated relationships
The political analyst specializing in African affairs, Muhammad Madi Gabakti, is not optimistic that the return of Mali will contribute to resolving the security crisis, referring to the fact that “relationships between the countries of the group are complex, and disputes have become dominant, and the military council in Bamako does not wish to return, in pursuit of what it calls independence in decision-making.”
The military council refers to the French influence in several member states of the group, which it sought to get rid of by asking Paris to withdraw its forces that it sent to Mali in 2013 under the pretext of combating terrorism.
However, Michael Churkin, a researcher at the American Rand Center for Security Consulting, does not see a significant impact of financial withdrawal on the level of the group’s performance, saying that even before that it was very ineffective, and its work was tainted by deficiencies in security and intelligence cooperation among its members.
For its part, the Malian Military Council went to cooperate with Russia, especially in the security and military field, and summoned a force from the Russian private military “Wagner” group, to replace the French forces that left in 2022.
The Sahel region has been suffering from the infiltration and expansion of terrorist groups during the last ten years, especially those affiliated with Al-Qaeda, such as the “Nasrat al-Islam and Muslims” group, or the “ISIS” organization that has reached it in recent years, in addition to local armed groups struggling with governments over power.
new strategy
On September 21 and 22, 2022, the defense ministers and chiefs of staff of the Group of Five Sahel countries met in the capital of Niger, and discussed a new strategy for the joint force and a review of its operational plan after Mali’s withdrawal.
In the words of the Burkinabe political researcher, Mona Lia, the implementation of any strategy to improve the work of the group faces the following obstacles and challenges:
- Formalizing its decisions and improving capabilities to ensure the safety of civilians.
- Solve the problem of long-term financing of the joint force, which has always been a major obstacle to its proper functioning.
- The international influence struggle in the Sahel region between Russia, China, the United States and several countries in Europe may hinder the G5 Sahel from playing an effective role in Mali.
- The authorities in Mako turn to Russia, while other countries from the group turn to France, such as Niger, making it more difficult to restore cooperation.
- Given that terrorism in that region transcends the common borders of its countries, it will be difficult for Mali to restore peace on its territory without the cooperation of its neighbors who face the same threat.
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