Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger withdraw from ECOWAS

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced on Sunday their immediate withdrawal from the ECOWAS group in West Africa.

The leaders of the three Sahel countries issued a statement in which they said that the departure of the Economic Community of West African States “without delay” is a “sovereign decision.”

Today, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) confirmed the withdrawal of the three countries from its ranks.

Burkina Faso and Mali sided with the Nigerien army, which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

These countries have repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the ECOWAS group due to the latter's position on the situation in Niger.

The Sri Lankan Navy reports that Somali pirates have seized a fishing vessel

A group of suspected pirates from Somalia have seized a Sri Lankan fishing vessel carrying a crew of six, the Sri Lankan Navy reported on Sunday.

A Sri Lankan Navy spokesman said that this attack, the latest by pirates in the Indian Ocean, targeted the ship "Lorenzo Bota-4" on Saturday, about 840 nautical miles southeast of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The spokesman said that his country informed the International Anti-Piracy Coalition of the incident.  

He added that the Indian Navy sent a warship to the aforementioned area for verification.

Somali pirates launch attacks targeting commercial ships and oil tankers, with the aim of controlling them and their crews and later demanding a financial ransom in exchange for their release. Attacks launched by Somali pirates reached their peak in 2011, when they launched attacks up to 3,655 kilometers from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean, before declining significantly in recent years.

It should be noted that Sri Lanka announced earlier that it would join the US-led naval force in the Red Sea to protect international shipping from Houthi attacks .