5-nation African force seeks to deploy

UNITED NATIONS — Mali’s foreign minister urged the U.N. Security Council on Friday to authorize the immediate deployment of a five-nation force to fight the growing “terrorist” threat in Africa’s vast Sahel region — a move the United States opposes.

Abdoulaye Diop told the council that Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, acting president of the so-called Group of Five, is deeply concerned at the difficulties the French-drafted resolution is facing in the council.

Leaders of the group — Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and Chad — created the joint force to fight terrorism, transnational organized crime and human trafficking.

A U.S. official said earlier this month that while President Donald Trump’s administration supports the force in principle, it doesn’t believe a Security Council resolution is legally necessary for its deployment.