Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou on Tuesday said the country and its people will win a war against the terrorist threats. The president’s assurance comes a week after 71 soldiers were killed in attack on a military camp in western Niger near the border with Mali.
“We are at war,” Issaoufou said. “We are waging this war, it cannot be repeated enough, for a just cause, the defence of our nation and the integrity of our territory. And that is why we will win it, God willing, whatever time it takes.”
The Nigerien president added that the military has all the means required to overcome terrorist threats. He said the government will further strengthen the military and its alliances to curb militant activities in the country.
“I know that all of our people support our defence and security forces, the defence of the nation and the integrity of the territory is a duty for all of us, civil or military,” Issaoufou said. “The government will mobilize not only the material and human resources.”
Leaders of the G5 Sahel nations, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Chad, recently held a meeting in Niamey calling for closer cooperation and international support in the battle against the terrorists.
The Sunday meeting was held to prepare for the G5 summit, which was initially set for December 16 but was postponed because of the attack. The summit will now take place in the southern French town of Pau on January 13.
In related news, French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Niger to pay homage to 71 soldiers massacred in a jihadist attack earlier this month. Macron will join a ceremony over the weekend in the capital Niamey to pay his respects to the soldiers killed at the military camp in the Sahel country’s western Tillaberi region on December 10.
