Senegal confirmed on Thursday that it will actively take part if the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chooses to undertake a military intervention in Niger in response to the recent coup.
Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall emphasized on Thursday that there had been an excessive number of coups in the region, and Senegal is committed to upholding its international obligations.
“Senegalese soldiers, for all these reasons, will go there,” she said.
Regional bloc ECOWAS has warned of potential military intervention if the junta fails to restore ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to power by Sunday.
Niger is the fourth member of the bloc to experience a coup since 2020.
During a government press briefing in the capital Dakar, Senegal’s Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall emphasized that Senegal is bound to comply with ECOWAS’s decisions regarding potential military intervention in Niger.
But she added, “Senegal’s conviction is that these coups must be stopped — that’s why we are going there”.
During the government press briefing in the capital Dakar, Senegal’s Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall questioned ECOWAS’s selective approach, asking why the regional bloc would consider sending troops to Niger but had not done so in response to previous coups in Mali, Guinea, or Burkina Faso.
“To give a simple answer, because it is one coup too many”, she said.