Mali

France hopes “good sense” will prevail and the US will not slash support for French military operations in West Africa, where groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are expanding their foothold. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the appeal as Defence Minister Florence Parly was due to meet US counterparts to discuss the crisis in the Sahel.

At least 20 members of Mali’s security forces were killed on Sunday, January 26 in a major assault against a military camp in near the border with Mauritania later claimed by al-Qaeda-linked JNIM.

France will further bolster its Operation Barkhane force in the Sahel, and the new international Task Force Takuba will be fully operational by the autumn, the country’s most senior military officer said on Wednesday, January 22.

Chad’s defense minister discussed plans to deploy a battalion of military personnel to the Mali-Burkina Faso-Niger tri-border area with his French and Swedish counterparts on Monday, January 20.

France’s armed forces minister said on Wednesday she would travel to Washington in the coming days to discuss US military support to French forces in the Sahel region, amid growing concern of a US exit from the area.

Operation Barkhane was supposed to be France’s contribution to ridding jihadists from the Sahel region, one of its main spheres of influence in Africa. But instead, President Emmanuel Macron is increasingly isolated – both in Africa and in Europe.

Operation Barkhane was supposed to be France’s contribution to ridding jihadists from the Sahel region, one of its main spheres of influence in Africa. But instead, President Emmanuel Macron is increasingly isolated – both in Africa and in Europe.

Implementation of the 2015 peace agreement in Mali provides the only pathway for stabilization there, the head of UN peacekeeping told the Security Council on Wednesday. Jean-Pierre Lacroix updated ambassadors on developments in the West African country, … . Despite slow starts and disagreements, both between and among the sides, the UN peacekeeping chief reported that progress has been achieved in Mali, such as the holding of an inclusive national dialogue which concluded in December.

The leaders of France and the G5 Sahel group of states have agreed to form a military coalition under joint command and to focus their counter-insurgency efforts against Islamic State.

France's president and his counterparts from the Sahel region are meeting to discuss military operations against Islamist militants in West Africa. BBC looks at the figures behind the conflict, … .