Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS).
"ECOWAS, under the influence of foreign powers and having betrayed its founding principles, has become a threat to member states and their peoples... the organization has failed to assist our countries in the fight against terrorism and insecurity," the joint statement published on the National Council for the Defense of the Fatherland of Niger page said.
The countries also noted that the regional bloc introduced “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions.”
Niger's military-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine accused ECOWAS of dishonesty on Thursday after the negotiating mission, whose arrival was expected in Niger's capital Niamey, failed to show. The delegation explained its absence by citing a technical malfunction of the aircraft.