KIGALI, Rwanda

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso under their recent formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) announced the creation of a joint military force Thursday to counter spiraling security challenges posed by terrorist groups.

The chiefs of staff of the three countries made the announcement Wednesday at the end of their first meeting in Niger’s capital, Niamey, according to Niger’s News Agency on Thursday.

The Joint Force “will be operational as soon as possible” to take up the security challenges in the three territories, in particular the armed terror groups, Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, Niger's chief of staff of the armed forces, said at the meeting.

Barmou noted that the armies managed to develop “an operational concept” that would enable them to achieve the defense and security objectives.

“We are convinced that with the combined efforts of our three countries, we will succeed in creating the conditions for shared security, an objective at the heart of the concerns of our States and our valiant populations in search of peace and stability,” he said.

AES was created in September, with a mutual defense pact between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Military leaders deposed elected governments in the three countries between 2020 and 2023.

The three nations are facing spiraling insecurity, with terror groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh/ISIS moving from Mali to neighbors in the Sahel region.

The countries have severed military cooperation with their former colonial master France, and are forging relations with Russia.

They announced their intentions to leave the West African bloc, ECOWAS, in January.

Niger’s military leader Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, Col. Assimi Goïta of Mali and Capt. Ibrahim Traore from Burkina Faso have accused the bloc of being subservient to France.

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2023, in a report published by the Australia-based global Institute for Economics and Peace, showed that the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa is now the epicenter of terrorism, accounting for more deaths from terrorism in 2022 than South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa combined.

Burkina Faso was the most affected by terrorism on the continent and the second most affected worldwide in 2022, according to the report. Mali and Niger ranked among the top five globally.