Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will soon launch new biometric passports, the Malian military leader, Colonel Assimi Goïta, said on Sunday, these states led by juntas seeking to consolidate their alliance after separating from the ECOWAS regional block.

The three neighboring countries in the Sahel, led by a junta, jointly announced in January that they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has 15 members and has sought to persuade them to reconsider their decision.

Burkina Faso announced at the beginning of the month that it was putting into circulation new passports that do not have the ECOWAS logo.

"In the coming days, a new biometric passport from the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation in order to harmonize travel documents in our common space and facilitate the mobility of our citizens around the world”, announced Sunday evening the head of the Malian junta, Mr. Assimi Goita.

He was speaking before a meeting on Monday between the foreign ministers of the three countries, on the anniversary of the decision to form their own alliance.

Mr. Goita also indicated that they were considering launching a joint news channel “in order to promote the harmonious dissemination of information in our three states.”

ECOWAS warned that the withdrawal of the three countries would compromise the freedom of movement and the common market of the 400 million people who live in the 49-year-old Union.

Their departure comes as their armies fight groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State, whose insurgencies have destabilized the region over the past decade and threaten to spread to coastal states in West Africa.