West African nations vow to assemble anti-Islamist military force
A surge in attacks prompts five nations in the region to commit to a 4,000-member fighting force, but only by year-end
Abidjan — West African nations are preparing to deploy a military force to counter a surge in ambushes and bombings by Islamist militants that more than 15,000 international troops have failed to contain. Militants are targeting not only UN peacekeepers in Mali but increasingly carrying out assaults across its borders. That has prompted five nations in the arid region south of the Sahara desert known as the G-5 Sahel to agree to assemble a 4,000-member force by the end of the year, Malian Defence Minister Tiena Coulibaly said in an interview. Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania will also contribute soldiers. "The frequency of attacks is certainly increasing in both Mali and northern Burkina Faso," Sean Smith, a West Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, said in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. "The good thing is that the countries are cooperating better than they’ve ever cooperated before, but the reality is that the number of attacks has risen every year since 2013 and ther...
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