‘G5 Sahel’ appeal for support against Jihadists receives UN boost

SEVARE, Mali: An appeal by Sahel region countries for help in their battle against jihadist violence received a boost Sunday when a visiting UN Security Council ambassador pledged support.

“I can assure you Burkina Faso and the G5 Sahel Countries will get the support they need,” said Ethiopian ambassador Tekeda Alemu, who co-presided with his French and Italian colleagues in the 15- strong UN delegation ending a five- day visit to the region.

The trip came on the initiative of France, which is presiding over the UN Security Council this month.

The so- called ‘G5 Sahel’ states – comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – are to launch a first operation against the jihadists at the end of October but lack funding for equipment and training.

Earlier Sunday, the ambassadors had visited the command headquarters in the central Malian town of Sevare for talks on the security crisis in the region.

Sevare is just east of Mopti, in central Mali, an area which has seen a severe worsening of security in recent months, giving greater urgency to a G5 move to relaunch a joint regional force initially created in November 2015.

Force commander and Malian general Didier Dacko said before Alemu’s statement that he was waiting for “fundamental political support” from the Security Council.

The vast Sahel region has turned into a hotbed of violent extremism and lawlessness since chaos engulfed Libya in 2011, the Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and the rise of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

A fresh attack in Niger’s restive southwest, which borders Mali, killed 13 paramilitary police on Saturday, just weeks after a deadly ambush on a joint USNiger patrol. — AFP