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West Africa: France Rules Out Immediate Troop Cuts in Sahel
DW, 16 February 2021
Germany's foreign minister has rejected French requests for German engagement in Sahel combat operations. Meanwhile the French president has said he will not reduce the number of… Read more »
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West Africa: France Meets Sahel Leaders to Discuss Insurgency
DW, 15 February 2021
Islamist jihadis in the unstable region have killed thousands of soldiers. French President Emmanuel Macron is thought to want support for a troop drawdown amid rising numbers of… Read more »
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West Africa: N'djamena Summit Should Redefine France-Sahel Cooperation
ISS, 15 February 2021
Operation Barkhane has never been this unpopular. A poll conducted in early January 2021 by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) revealed that 51% of France's population… Read more »
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West Africa: Video Remarks to the G5 Sahel Summit
State Department, 16 February 2021
Bonjour à tous. C'est un plaisir pour moi de participer cette année au sommet du G5 Sahel. Je remercie le président Ghazouani de son leadership au cours de… Read more »
Sahel-France Summit Examines Escalating Conflict in Mali
French President Emmanuel Macron and a group of five African allies have met to discuss a violent insurgency across Africa's Sahel region. Leaders of the G5 Sahel - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - met in Chad's capital city N'Djamena for the two-day summit. Macron attended via videolink. Islamist fighters in the Sahel first emerged in northern Mali in 2012. They now control vast swaths of territory in the region that stretches across the southern edge of the Sahara desert. France together with the G5 Sahel nations have been fighting the insurgency. The UN also has a peacekeeping mission in the region. But thousands of soldiers, UN peacekeepers and civilians have been killed, according to the UN. More than two million people have fled their homes.
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West Africa: Ending Indecision in the Sahel
Centre 4s, 11 February 2021
A G 5 Sahel-France Summit is due to take place on 15 February in Ndjamena, Chad. Eight years after the successful deployment of French troops in Mali, the time has come for the… Read more »
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Mali: UN Chief Says 'Complex Attack' Against Blue Helmets May Constitute War Crime
UN News, 13 February 2021
Secretary-General António Guterres condemned on Saturday, a “complex attack” against the UN mission in the West African country of Mali Read more »
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Mali: UN Peacekeepers Injured in Major Attack On MINUSMA Base
UN News, 10 February 2021
Some 20 UN peacekeepers serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, were injured on Wednesday, after their temporary base came under attack in the restive central… Read more »
InFocus
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The current approach by France and it spartners has not stemmed Sahel's expanidng security crisis,Internatiopnal Crisis Group says in an extensive report. "Meanwhile, popular ... Read more »
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The French anti-terror mission Barkhane is losing support in Mali, as reflected in recent protests in the capital, Bamako. Attitudes towards the former colonial power are ... Read more »
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Since it started nine years ago, the Sahel security crisis has claimed tens of thousands of lives, forcibly displaced millions, and triggered record levels of food shortages. ... Read more »
