The allied military-led nations of the Sahel denounced the emergency landing of a Nigerian military aircraft in Burkina Faso on Monday, while collectively threatening action against violations of their airspace.
The Alliance of Sahel States — made up of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso — said in a joint statement that the aircraft had been carrying 11 military personnel and did not have permission to fly over Burkina Faso.
“An aircraft belonging to the Air Force of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, type C-130, was forced to land today in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, following an in-flight emergency situation while it was operating in Burkinabe airspace,” according to an alliance statement read on state media in the three West African countries.
The statement called the landing an “unfriendly act” and said the countries’ respective air forces had been put on maximum alert and authorised to “neutralise any aircraft” found to violate the confederation’s airspace
The joint statement did not mention what happened to the 11 military personnel onboard the Nigerian turboprop plane.
The trio of Sahel countries, all under military rule and battling long-running jihadist insurgencies, maintain uneasy relations with their west African neighbours. In January, they left the regional bloc ECOWAS after forming their own alliance.
The three states have also distanced themselves from the West, notably from former colonial ruler France, while drawing closer to Russia.
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