Niger has agreed to the deployment on its territory of French and European forces that will withdraw from neighbouring Mali in order to guarantee the security of its border with the neighbouring country, the President of Niger announced on Twitter today.

In his first statements following France‘s announcement yesterday that it would withdraw from Mali, together with its military partners, Niger‘s President Mohamed Bazoum said that these forces would be able to respond to the threats of jihadist organisations in the region.

Some 2,400 French soldiers, who were part of the force deployed in Mali to counter organisations linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, and around 900 members of the special forces of the French-led Takuba force are expected to leave Mali in the coming months.

“Our goal is for our borders with Mali to be secure,” Bazoum said, adding that he expects threats from jihadist organisations to increase after the withdrawal of French and European troops.

“This region will be even more crowded with terrorist groups that will be strengthened. We know that they are bound to expand their influence,” he added. For his part, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Ledrian said today that the fight against Islamist organisations in Mali is now exclusively a problem for the country‘s authorities. “It‘s Mali‘s problem, it‘s no longer France‘s problem,” he said in an interview with the LCI television network.