ABIDJAN: The foreign ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are due in Moscow this week for the first talks between their countries’ newly created confederation and Russia, they said in a statement.
The three Sahelian countries are led by juntas who seized power in coups between 2020 and 2023 and have since turned away from former colonial power France and moved closer to Russia.
They quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the beginning of the year, accusing the regional bloc of being subservient to France, and have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), originally set up as a defense pact in 2023 but which now seeks closer integration.
The three foreign ministers will be in the Russian capital on Thursday and Friday at the invitation of their counterpart Sergei Lavrov to “take part in the first session of AES-Russia consultations,” the ministers said in a statement posted on Facebook by the Malian foreign ministry, which holds the presidency of the confederation.
“This meeting is part of the shared desire of the heads of state of the AES confederation and the Russian Federation to extend their partnership and their political dialogue at the confederal level and to place them at the heart of their diplomatic, development and defense agenda,” they said.
Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group and its successor Africa Corps are helping the AES countries battle extremists, whose attacks have killed tens of thousands of people in the three countries.
Moscow has also concluded defense agreements with Mali, Burkina and Niger and has supplied military equipment.
It also cooperates with the AES on energy and mining.
Mali, Burkina, Niger foreign ministers due in Moscow for talks
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Mali, Burkina, Niger foreign ministers due in Moscow for talks
- Sahelian countries are led by juntas who seized power in coups between 2020 and 2023 and have turned away from former colonial power France and moved closer to Russia
- Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group and its successor Africa Corps are helping the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) battle extremists
Indian state hunts wild elephant after 20 killed in rampage
- Attacks have been taking place in Jharkhand state since early January
- Deaths come amid increasing destruction of elephants’ natural habitat
NEW DELHI: A team of 100 forest and wildlife officers is on the hunt for a wild elephant that has killed at least 20 people in a days-long rampage in eastern India, officials said on Wednesday.
The elephant attacks have been taking place since early January in the Chaibasa and Kolhan forest areas of West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand state, which is also home to the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve.
“Twenty people have lost their lives,” Aditya Narayan, divisional forest officer, Chaibasa, told Arab News. “This is unusual ... we have put the entire area on alert and asked the villagers not to step out unnecessarily. This is an alarming situation.”
Smitha Pankaj, chief forest conservator in the Singhbhum area, said the animal has not been sighted yet but it has been established that it is a bull in musth — a period of heightened testosterone and a known factor in aggressive behavior.
“This attack has happened when the testosterone level of elephants is at its peak. Besides that, people have also been agitating the elephant,” she said.
“I feel that it has crossed the Jharkhand border ... our team consisting of over 100 people is monitoring the situation.”
The rampage took place as human activity leads to the shrinking of the natural habitat of elephants. Settlements are encroaching on areas that once served as seasonal movement routes for elephant herds.
Rishikesh Singhdev, a forest rights activist, also attributed the attacks to deforestation and insufficient efforts to preserve the elephant population.
“In 2005, the government gave land to humans in the forests and, as a result, the human population in the jungle kept on increasing. It is believed that elephants do their movement on the route that their ancestors have walked. Elephants have killed people who fell on this route,” he said.
“Elephant food habitats have disappeared. This is the first elephant reserve forest in India, but no attempt is being made to preserve and secure the elephants.”
