France, Sahel Nations Vow to Step Up Anti-jihadist

Pau (France), Jan 14 (AFP) France and its five partner nations in the Sahel region of West Africa pledged Monday to bolster their efforts against jihadists waging an increasingly deadly insurgency, while urging the United States to keep its troops engaged in the region's anti-terror fight.

President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad lauded Washington's "crucial support", after a top US general confirmed the Pentagon was weighing a drastic troop reduction in Africa.

"If the Americans decided to leave Africa, this would be very bad news for us," Macron said after the high-stakes summit meeting in Pau, southwest France.

"I hope to convince President Trump that the fight against terrorism is playing out in this region as well," he said.

Macron said he would send 220 more soldiers to reinforce France's 4,500-strong Barkhane operation, tasked with training and assisting under-equipped local forces, and called on other allies to step up their participation in a new "Sahel Coalition."

"The heads of state... underscored the need for greater cooperation in implementing the current initiatives in the Sahel and a stronger international commitment," the leaders said in a joint statement after the talks.

In particular a new "Takuba Task Force" consisting of European special forces will be set up to track down insurgents in the mostly lawless border area linking Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

No details were given on which countries might contribute, but the leaders said the Takuba forces would focus initially on fighters from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, known by its French abbreviation EIGS. (AFP)

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