We will wipe out Islamist thugs and killers, promises Macron

FRANCE and African states must work together to “eradicate terrorists, thugs and murderers” in a vast region south of the Sahara, the French president said yesterday.

Emmanuel Macron threw his weight behind a new multinational military force set up to fight jihadists.

Meeting in Mali, west Africa, with leaders from the five regional countries involved in the new force, he said France would provide military support as well as 70 tactical vehicles, and communications, operational and protec- tive equipment.

“We cannot hide behind words, and must take action,” he said.

The new 5,000-strong force, due to be deployed by September, has a mandate to combat the wave of Islamist bombings, shootings and kidnappings in Sahel.

France considers the region a breeding ground for militants and drugs- and people-traffickers who pose a threat to Europe.

Yesterday’s summit – of leaders of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad – came a day after the recently formed group Nusrat al-islam wal Muslimeen, based in Mali, released a proof-of-life video of six foreign hostages seized in recent years. Mr Macron welcomed the first sign of life for several months from Sophie Petronin, a French hostage.

“They are terrorists, thugs and assassins,” Macron said of the extremists. “And we will put all of our energies into eradicating them.” The new force will operate alongside a 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, and France’s own 5,000-strong Barkhane military operation, its largest overseas mission.

France intervened in Mali in 2013 to chase out al-qaeda-linked jihadists who had captured key northern cities. That mission evolved into Operation Barkhane, with an anti-terror mandate across the Sahel.

The new force will support national armies trying to catch jihadists who move easily across porous frontiers, and its operations will be closely coordinated with Barkhane, a source said.

It is unclear where its budgeted €423million funding will come from. The EU has pledged €50million, and each of the five African states has promised €10 million. But the UN, whose Security Council has said it supports the mission, will not contribute.

Mr Macron is hoping for support from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the US.