Leaders from five West African nations and France agreed Tuesday to step up the fight against Islamic extremists in the Sahel region by deploying a new battalion from Chad, maintaining a strong French military presence and gradually building up a European task force.

France, West Africa step up counterterrorism efforts PARIS (AP) — Leaders from five West African nations and France agreed Tuesday to step up the fight against Islamic extremists in the Sahel region by deploying a new battalion from Chad, maintaining a strong French military presence and gradually building up a European task force. February 16, 2021 The leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania, in a final statement from their two-day summit in N’Djamena, Chad, hailed progress over the past year that they said had made the implementation of a clear military strategy possible. French President Emmanuel Macron, European officials and the heads of international organizations also attended the summit via videoconference. Speaking from Paris, Macron said he would maintain the number of French troops operating in the region at their current level at least until summer. The remark is an apparent reversal from previous statements Macron made in which he suggested that he favored a gradual reduction of troop levels. “I think that precipitating a French withdrawal or willing to massively withdraw soldiers - which is an option I studied - would be a mistake,” he said during a news conference. “This is the result of a discussion I had with each (Sahelian) leader.” France has about 5,100 troops deployed in the five West African countries, making it the country’s largest military operation abroad. “We must not release pressure on terrorist groups,” Macron said during Tuesday’s meeting. Macron said military operations should stay focused on the region bordering Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso - the epicenter of the fight against jihadist groups. The military will also this year “try to cut off the head” of al-Qaida-linked groups known as JNIM and the Macina Liberation Front, he said. President Idris Deby of Chad said his country would send 1,200 troops to the tri-border region between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Chad has said in the past that it would deploy soldiers to the region but did not. The leaders who attended the summit also vowed to further strengthen a regional force known as the G5 Sahel force that was launched in 2017. It is made up of soldiers from Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania who operate in cooperation with French troops. African and European officials called for long-term international financing of G5 Sahel. Macron said the force needs 40 million euros ($48.5 million) per year to stay operational. Burkina Faso is one of the hardest-hit countries in the region, with more than 1 million displaced people as a result of the violence. Civilians there civilians have lauded military gains made last year, pointing to how some people have started returning to the villages from which they were chased. “This was unexpected a year ago,” Armand Joseph Kabore, director of Labo Citoyennetes, a think tank in Burkina Faso told The Associated Press. Kabore said that while he appreciates international assistance, he thinks it’s time for African countries to find solutions and to be responsible for their own security. “In order to stop being eternally assisted, we have to grow up. Even a child who is born into the world must at some point be able to fly on his own,” he said. If France does reduce its troop commitment in the future, the region would have to find a solution to compensate its absence, Kabore noted. ”(The G5 Sahel) force has to be more present, more of a deterrent, and capable of efficiently opposing forces of evil,” he said. Other Sahel analysts don’t think the region is ready to go it alone. “The progress of the G5-Sahel is quite slow. We thought that right after the creation of this organization it would achieve concrete objectives, like strengthening the Sahel countries’ armies' capacity to face terrorism," Siaka Coulibaly, an analyst with the Center for Public Policy Monitoring by Citizens in Burkina Faso, said. "On this exact point, we realized that the countries aren’t really satisfactory.” Civil society groups in the Sahel say that the approach should be less military and more inclusive, one that focuses on good governance, development and reducing stigmatization of ethnic groups, said a statement from the Fulani community of the Sahel, a group that has been targeted by security forces for their alleged affiliation with jihadists. The leaders during the summit also pushed for an increasing role of the Takuba task force, a military group composed of European special forces. Macron said the task force should ultimately number 2,000 troops but didn’t disclose when it would reach that strength. The task force is currently composed of soldiers from France, the Czech Republic and Estonia and will be augmented by troops from Sweden and Italy in the coming months. According to Macron, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered summit participants the “first signal of the renewed commitment” of the new U.S. administration to maintain troops and military assets in the region. French troops have been present the Sahel region since 2013, when they intervened in Mali to expel Islamic extremist rebels from power. “France is not involved in ethnic or communitarian wars. No. Our presence on site has been requested by the states, it is in support of the sovereignty of these states and we are fighting against one common enemy... Islamist terrorism,” Macron said. The leaders also agreed that on top of military operations, efforts are needed to restore state mechanisms in the most vulnerable areas to support civilians and boost regional development. Mednick reported from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. ----------------------------------------- Macron recently attempted to modernize French industries,Politics & Economy,met the Putin/Trump planted French Destructive Challenges as Human Right NGOs/Far Right Activists,not Aware or Mindful of these Created French Sabotage/Saboteurs,as French Yellow Vest Protects,could last longer,as an Avenue to continue to access Large Putin Sponsorship Funds with Trump Secret Logistic Assistance, French President Emmanuel Macron non strategically & erroneously to modernize the French Economy/Polity,not mindful that France historically/politically engage in various international Exploitation and off Table Third World Businesses/Transactions,unlike Germany that its Economy on Factual industrial Production, Visible international Trade and industrial Indexes. French President Macron recently attempted to modernize French industries,Polities & Economy,met the Putin/Trump implanted French Destructive Walls/Challenges,not aware or mindful of these created French Sabotage with its international Collaboration confronted France,the Sympathetic Western Allies/People, Some piteous Asians & Sympathetic Arab were Dumb founded,got unprepared & could not assist french Situation,the World known liberal French Leader out of this violent confrontational Problem, which Macron run into,unprepared. Since,French Macron led the Liberal West with its liberal Allies,not the Far Rights Extremist Groups that engulfed the World nowadays with Racism, Destruction,Segregationist Policies and World  inhumanities. It is Time for any liberal/moderate Leader to read or study political Situation before embarking into any Governmental Policy or Political Decision,as there fueled ground waiting any any liberal/moderate Leader in the World today. ........................................................................... Huge Migrant Crisis,Trump induced Trade Tariff Economic Conflict/Crisis and Far Right/White Extremist Political Instability confronting West & US with its Allies nowadays, have testified Russia Vladimir Putin, as a groomed voodoo political/economic Crisis Expert and as a KGB trained Con Artist Expert/KGB insecurity Crisis Expert. Analysts were of opinion that Putin Russia KGB Elements/NGOs secretly organized, sponsored & tele-guided Stranded Mediterranean sea Migrants and Stranded US-Mexico border Migrants, as technical analysis or careful studies of some years back Migrants,could show that past migrants were resourceful, matured & well knowledgeable than present youthful migrants,as many present migrant do not have the required Resources or Maturity & traveling know-how,as to leave their various Countries,in order to be able to reach either Mediterranean sea or US-Mexico Border. Putin migrant problematic Designs were created to inflate the US or West with large Refugee Complex Problems and to create a migrant unsolvable situation where the US or West is portrayed in bad Media light as inhuman or not caring. Western Securities/Agents should be on the field, as to counter and checkmate this Putin Russia Migrant Crisis program as quickly as possible.  Putin led Russia Kremlin/KGB Hardliners accused US with its Western Allies for the collapse of former Soviet Union Republics,whereby  Putin with his Cohorts strategically nurtured & sponsored European Far Right Chauvinists/White Extremists and US White Extremist Conservatives,as to create Racial Divide Crisis, inflate Racial Inequalities, Economic Disharmony & to segregate US various Races/Classes from US flourishing Economy. Trump led Extremist Republicans after saying that Obama 8 years were disastrous,but upon Trump Office assumption, they asserted that Jobs were created and US Economy was turned around and performing,while the smallest Economy takes 2years to turn it around. View my articles on these websites: http://maziliteralworks.wordpress.com http://maziliteralworks.blogspot.com https://medium.com/me/stories/public http://disqus.com/home/channel/mazipatrick/ https://maziliteralworks.tumblr.com https://twitter.com/Maziliteraworks Regards, Mazi Patrick O. email: akwaba2000@gmail.com Thinker, Writer, Political Strategist, Historian & Psychoanalyst....