The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission denounced the declaration of independence by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) for the north of Mali and considered it null and void, in a statement issued on Friday night in Abuja.

The Commission wishes to remind all the armed groups in the north of Mali that Mali is one and indivisible entity, and ECOWAS shall take all necessary measures, including the use of force, to ensure the territorial integrity of the country, according to the statement.

ECOWAS wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the unity and territorial integrity of Mali, and to put all on guard against any temptation to proclaim any part of Mali as a sovereign state, as it will never recognize any such state, said the statement.