Sudan, Chad and Niger armies discuss border security
April 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Military chiefs of staff from Chad, Niger and Sudan held a consultations meeting in Khartoum on border security following the increase of transnational crimes in the sub-Saharan region.
Took part in the meeting Lt. Gen. Kamal Abdel-Marouf Chief of the General Staff of the Sudan Armed Forces, Lt Gen. Ahmed Mohamed Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Niger, and Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Saeed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Chad.
“The meeting tackled ways to enhance solidarity and joint action to confront the challenges of border control and security, combating transnational crime, combating terrorism and rampant groups and achieving security and stability,” says a statement released by the official news agency after the meeting.
Earlier this month, military from the three countries and Libya discussed in the Niger’s capital Niamey, ways to enhance cooperation to fight jihadist and rebel groups and to stop human trafficking.
The political instability in Libya after the collapse of Muammar Kadaffi’s regime impacted negatively the whole region and particularly, Niger, Chad and Sudan. al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Boko Haram pose a serious threat to Niger and Chad while Sudan seeks to prevent trafficking of arms to Darfur and migration of mercenaries to Libya.
The statement said the three countries agreed to hold an expert-level meeting in Ndjamena next month to draft a framework document for the mechanism of monitoring and securing the common border between the three countries.
Sudan is not part of the multi-national military force in Africa’s Sahel region dubbed ” G5 Sahel force” which includes Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
The UN-backed force is tasked with policing the Sahel region in collaboration with 4,000 French troops deployed there since intervening in 2013 to fight an insurgency in northern Mali.
(ST)