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France hosts meeting of Sahel (G5) anti-terrorist force ministers

PARIS, Jan 15 (KUNA) -- France on Monday hosted a meeting of the Sahel "G5" group of nations and other supporting countries to set out a strategy to fight terrorism in sub-Saharan African.
Defence Ministers from Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania joined French counterpart Florence Parly for talks, while contributing nations who are helping finance and provide material support for the "G5" military force also took part in the meeting.
Representatives of the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations were also present, the French Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The "G5" force is intended to partially replace the French "Barkane" military deployment in the region whose numbers are 4,000 men and is used to combat militant groups that are threatening stability in the sub-Saharan area.
France has military bases in many of the Sahel nations but is eager to hand over operational responsibility to a regional force.
About USD 300 million have been budgeted for this regional force but compatibility of military hardware and operational modes have still to be worked out.
On December 13, President Emmanuel Macron held a summit in Paris, bringing together around twenty heads-of-state affected or concerned by the Sahel terrorism issue and interested in promoting the "G5" military force.
The French Defence Ministry said the aim of Monday's meeting was "to reinforce coordination and to accelerate the empowering of the G5 Sahel joint force." (END) jk.hm