The announcement was made in the joint statement of the three countries’ leaders.

"The College of national leaders closely follows the deceiving maneuvers, initiated by the French junta, who declares the shutdown of its military bases only to replace them with another, less visible mechanism, which pursues the same neo-colonial goal," says the statement, published by the AES info website.

"These actions are accompanied by operations on reorganization and regrouping of terrorist groups in the Lake Chad basin, in Sahel and in some border areas, including borders between Niger and Nigeria, Niger and Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso. These groups receive various support from foreign states, including funds and equipment, intended for destabilization of the Sahel Alliance," the statement read, TASS reported.

Faced with these circumstances, the College of national leaders ruled to "take the defense and security forces to maximum alert, and make the confederacy’s territory a single theater of military operation, which coexists with the current national war theaters."

MP/PR