Posted by: John Phoenix
Despite continual imperialist attempts at sabotage and overthrow, the AES states continue to push forward with development, prioritising the needs of the masses.
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The imperialist forces are desperate to bring down the popular governments of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Since being kicked out of the Sahel region by three successful popular military coups, French imperialism has been using every dirty trick in its arsenal to try to get back control. It is extremely unwilling to accept the loss of the cheap raw materials on which its survival as an exploiting power depends.
In early October, France’s local terrorist proxy Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (Jnim, an al-Qaeda offshoot), intensified attacks on fuel convoys from Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal heading to Mali. This terrorism caused severe shortages, paralysing transport, public services and economic activity in the capital city Bamako and some other regions. Long queues of vehicles blocked petrol stations, and thousands of workers found themselves without transport or income.
Malicious actors spread rumours online about an imminent Jnim takeover of Bamako, and western media announced that President Goïta was about to be overthrown. This was a classic psychological operation aimed at spreading panic amongst the Malian people, but it failed. The Malian government, which enjoys strong popular support, responded quickly, calling on the other members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) for help with fuel supplies and security, and order was soon restored.
In January 2026, the imperialists launched another coup attempt against President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, using funding from Ivory Coast and military support from Benin (both French-backed regimes), but the plot was foiled by Burkinabe military security.
The goal of the coup was to reinstate the former president, Lieutenant-Colonel Pau-Henri Damida, who has been waiting in Benin for his French masters to reinstall him. Fortunately, word spread on social media that a coup attempt was in progress and Ouagadougou’s people came out in a mass show of support for their president, declaring themselves to be a physical bulwark defending him.
In February, Niger also faced a terrorist attack by forces that tried to seize the airport in Niamey. Islamic State (Isis) claimed responsibility and said it had inflicted significant damage. Nigerien authorities said the attackers tried to infiltrate the airport and airbase, facilities that host key military installations alongside the headquarters of the Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali Joint Force – a regional mechanism established to combat armed groups operating across the Sahel.
The airport is just 10km from the presidential palace, and is of strategic importance for Nigerien security. In the aftermath, authorities reinforced security measures across the capital and heightened vigilance around critical infrastructure.
All these attacks were made possible because the AES states, which are struggling to acheive full sovereignty over their territories and develop modern economies that serve their peoples, are surrounded by bastions of reaction – countries of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) which are all under complete French domination. Ecowas nations are regularly used as bases and training grounds for terrorists and mercenaries being prepared to attack the AES.
Despite those existential threats, the AES states continue to push forward with development, prioritising the needs of the masses. Their military, economic and diplomatic cooperation has proven to be extremely resilient in the face of incessant aggression. Burkina Faso recently announced its first five-year economic plan, whose main aims are: reducing poverty, increasing life expectancy, electrifying the country and crushing the terrorist threat.
Meanwhile, AES states’ partnerships with China and Russia have been proving that there is a path to development outside of imperialist dominion. China is helping Sahel nations to exploit their abundant mineral resources (the region has some of the largest gold, uranium, lithium and diamond reserves in the world) and to build infrastructure. Russia is helping them in the military fight to wipe out west-backed terrorism – a virulent plague that was facilitated by Nato’s destruction of the anti-imperialist Libya of Colonel Gaddafi.
The positive example that the AES nations have set for the region has encouraged people in neighbouring countries in their own struggle against imperialism, and they are beginning to choose leaders who align with the same aims of political and economic sovereignty and development.
We call on all progressive forces in Britain to stand with the AES governments and peoples, and to work together to build a genuinely anti-imperialist antiwar movement that is capable of putting an end to imperialism at the root, on its home front.