The Foreign Ministers of Niger and ​Mali have accused neighbouring countries of sponsoring terrorism, but said they were willing to co-operate on ‌some matters with the West African regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), from which they formally split in 2025.

The accusations underscore regional rifts in West Africa that can complicate efforts to curb jihadist violence across the Sahel, a semi-arid belt of land stretching across Africa.

Mali, Niger and ​neighbouring Burkina Faso have been battling jihadist insurgencies for over a decade. All three countries are led ​by military governments which seized power in coups and then broke away from ECOWAS to ⁠form their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

“There are neighbouring countries that are currently harbouring terrorist groups, supporting ​terrorist groups, or frequently receiving hostile forces that carry out operations against us,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told ​Reuters on the sidelines of a security forum in Senegal late on Monday.

He declined to name which neighbours he was referring to but added that foreign powers outside the region were also involved.

He said Ukrainian mercenaries had attacked Mali and claimed responsibility, in an apparent ​reference to comments by a Spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) about fighting in northern Mali in 2024.

Ukraine said at ​the time there was no evidence that it had played a role in the fighting. It has since denied supplying drones to rebels ‌in the ⁠north of Mali.

Tensions have also been high between Mali and Mauritania in recent weeks, with Mali claiming two of its soldiers were held by armed groups across the border, and Mauritania saying it was offended by the claim, which it denied.

–Reuters–