French-Backed West African Regional Force on Brink of Collapse

Published on December 12, 2023

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON—The stage has now been set for the disintegration of the French-backed G5 Sahel regional force set up to tackle jihadism and other challenges in West Africa. The last two remaining members of the alliance–Chad and Mauritania–said on Dec. 6 that they were paving the way for the dissolution of the anti-jihadist grouping after the other three founding countries left. Burkina Faso and Niger early this month followed Mali in declaring their withdrawal from the G5 Sahel. A joint statement from the military-led governments of Burkina Faso and Niger criticized the G5 force for failing to make the Sahel region safer. They claimed that the anti-jihadist force undermined the two African nations’ desire for greater “independence and dignity” and was serving foreign interests instead....

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