The security collaboration between Morocco and Niger has demonstrated its remarkable effectiveness. Leveraging intelligence provided by Moroccan services, the Nigerien military successfully eliminated the leader of the terrorist group Boko Haram. «On August 15, the Nigerien armed forces, executing an operation of exemplary precision, neutralized the notorious Bakoura, whose real name is Ibrahim Mahamadou, the feared leader of the Boko Haram sect, on the island of Chilawa in the Diffa region», in the southeast of the country, announced the Nigerien army. This operation was conducted in partnership with Moroccan intelligence services, as revealed by La Razon. «This cooperation, according to Moroccan sources, is part of the ongoing exchange of security information between Morocco and the countries of the Sahel and Sahara, where Rabat shares its expertise in intelligence, counterterrorism, combating violent extremism, and tackling organized crime», the Spanish daily elaborates. Just a week prior to this military action against the former Boko Haram leader, Colonel-Major Mahamadou Nouhou Bako, director of the National Center for Strategic and Security Studies (CNESS) overseeing military intelligence, hosted Colonel Adil Rajai, the defense attaché of the Moroccan embassy in Niger, on August 6. «The discussion primarily centered on the significance of cooperation in applied scientific research for strategic and security studies between our two nations, focusing on the exchange of experiences, considering the complex and multifaceted challenges to peace and security», stated the CNESS in a communiqué. Following this meeting, Algerian and Polisario media outlets reported that Niger had decided to «end its security cooperation with Morocco». It is noteworthy that, thanks to mediation by the kingdom, four French spies were released from Burkina Faso. In Mali, cooperation between the Malian National Security Agency and the General Directorate of Studies and Documentation (DGED) led to the release in early August of four Moroccan truck drivers who had been kidnapped since January by a terrorist group. Niger, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso joined the initiative launched on November 6, 2023, by King Mohammed VI to facilitate access to the Atlantic Ocean for Sahel countries on December 23, 2023.
