At least 11 Nigerian soldiers have been detained by Burkina Faso’s military authorities in Bobo-Dioulasso, in the country’s southwest.
Their arrest followed an emergency landing by a Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft, which the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) accused of “violating AES airspace.” The development was confirmed in a statement released by the AES and shared on X by security analyst Brant Grant on Monday night.
According to the statement, the aircraft entered Burkinabe airspace without authorization before making the unscheduled landing. The bloc also warned that any further unauthorized military flights would be “neutralized.”
The incident comes amid heightened regional tensions after Nigeria deployed military aircraft to Benin Republic on Sunday, in response to an attempted coup in the neighbouring country.
