Burkina Faso and Mali to strengthen their military collaboration against terrorism

Burkina Faso and Mali, which share a long border, will pool their efforts and resources to fight against terrorism, said Malian Defense Minister Colonel Sadio Camara, after a working visit by a day in Ouagadougou on Friday, we learned from an official source.

“We have received instructions from our Heads of State to come together, to pool not only efforts but also resources, in order to face our common enemy and for the well-being of our populations”, declared Camara after a meeting with Burkinabe President Captain Ibrahim Traoré, according to a statement from the Burkinabe Presidency.

The Malian Minister of Defense, who was accompanied by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGA) and several Malian officers, underlined that he was carrying a “message of brotherhood from the President of the Transition in Mali, His Excellency Colonel Assimi Goïta to his brother His Excellency Captain Ibrahim Traoré”.

Traoré praised the Malian Armed Forces for this bilateral approach, which allows the two countries to share their experiences for future victories in the fight against terrorism, according to the press release, which specifies that the two officials “have together reviewed the partnership between the two countries with a view to strengthening the fight against terrorism, a common enemy that mourns their respective populations”.

The Burkinabè Minister of Defense, Colonel-Major Kassoum Coulibaly “said he was optimistic about the strengthening of cooperation between the two armies and congratulated the two Chiefs of General Staff of the Armed Forces for the successes garnered in joint military operations” and urged them to continue implementing “common strategies in accordance with the instructions of the two Heads of State”.

On November 2, for his first outing from the country, Captain Traoré paid his first visit of friendship and work to Mali, with the aim of intensifying the armed struggle against the terrorist groups which are mourning the two nations and to strengthen the Ouagadougou-Bamako axis.

These two West African Sahelian countries share a 1,200 km long border and have been facing an upsurge in terrorist attacks since 2012 for Mali and 2015 for Burkina Faso.