BOBO DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso — The Confederation of Sahel States, a breakaway regional bloc comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic, has accused an aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force of violating Burkina Faso’s airspace and has authorised its member states to neutralise any aircraft deemed to breach its territorial skies.
In a statement signed on Monday, December 8, 2025, by Assimi Goita, the military leader of Mali, the bloc said the Nigerian aircraft, which was carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers, was forced to land in the Burkinabè city of Bobo Dioulasso following what it described as an “emergency situation in flight” while operating within Burkina Faso’s airspace.
The statement was read in a live broadcast by Mali’s minister of security and civil protection, Daoud Aly Mohamedine.
“An investigation was immediately opened by the competent Burkinabe services and highlighted the lack of authorisation to fly over Burkinabe territory for this military apparatus,” the statement said.
“The Confederation of the Sahel States most strongly condemns this violation of its airspace and the sovereignty of its member states.”
The statement further warned that the incident would trigger heightened defensive measures across the bloc’s shared airspace.
“Faced with this unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law and international civil and/or military aviation rules, arrangements are made to guarantee the security of the confederal airspace, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its Member States, as well as the safety of the Populations of the Confederation AES,” it said.
It added that, “on the instructions of the Heads of State, the Arian and anti-aircraft defences of the Confederal space put on maximum alert, in accordance with the Declaration of the College of Heads of State dated December 22, 2024, were authorised to neutralise any aircraft that would violate the confederal space”.
The accusation comes just one day after Nigerian Air Force jets carried out air strikes in neighbouring Benin Republic against soldiers fleeing after a failed coup attempt.
Nigeria confirmed that its military acted on requests from the Beninese authorities as loyal forces moved to restore control following the attempted uprising.
Nigeria’s presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said President Bola Tinubu authorised the operation after receiving two formal requests from Benin, one of which specifically sought aerial intelligence gathering and surveillance.
It remains unclear whether the Nigerian air mission connected to the Benin operation extended into Burkina Faso’s airspace.
Burkina Faso lies to the north-west of Benin and does not directly border Nigeria, raising questions about the circumstances under which the aircraft entered the area flagged by the Sahel bloc.
No official response has yet been issued by Nigeria’s defence authorities to the AES statement.
The current status of the Nigerian aircraft and the 11 soldiers on board was also not made public by either side.
The Confederation of Sahel States was formed earlier this year after Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger formally exited the Economic Community of West African States following a series of military coups and their subsequent suspension from the regional bloc.
The three countries later announced the creation of the AES after repeated diplomatic efforts by regional leaders to reintegrate them into ECOWAS failed.
Tensions between the AES and ECOWAS have remained high, with both groupings adopting sharply different positions on constitutional order, military rule and regional security cooperation.
Following the failure of the coup attempt in Benin, the ECOWAS Commission ordered the deployment of elements of its regional standby force to support the Beninese government after consultations among heads of state and government.
The Sahel bloc’s warning to place its aerial and anti-aircraft defences on maximum alert introduces an additional layer of uncertainty into an already volatile regional security environment, where military governments, fragile borders and competing security frameworks now operate side by side.
