AES puts Air Defences on high alert, vows to neutralise airspace intruders
The Confederation of Sahel States (AES) has announced that it had authorised its member countries to neutralise any aircraft that violates their shared airspace.
AES, a breakaway bloc from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), comprises Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic.
The directive followed an allegation by the confederation that an aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) violated Burkina Faso’s airspace on December 8. Reports indicated that the aircraft was carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers at the time of the incident.
According to a statement quoted by The Cable and signed by Mali’s junta leader, Assimi Goïta, the decision was taken on the directive of the Heads of State of the confederation.
“In this regard, and on the instructions of the Heads of State, the air and anti-aircraft defence systems of the confederal space have been placed on maximum alert, in line with the declaration of the College of Heads of State dated December 22, 2024, and are authorised to neutralise any aircraft that violates the confederal airspace,” the statement read.
Goïta described the alleged airspace incursion as an “unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law,” adding that measures were being put in place to strengthen and guarantee the security of the AES airspace.
