The Sahel plunges into a terrorist insurgency

When Mali and Burkina Faso pledged to aid putschists in Niger in the face of the threat of intervention by ECOWAS, terrorism experts wondered about the real ability to deliver on these promises. The declarations sounded alternatively unusual in the face of the situation that these countries themselves do not control immense areas of their territory, especially in the directions leading to Niamei, the capital of Niger. These areas are covered by the ongoing jihadist insurgency, which is besides accompanied by fights with separatists.