France sees long war vs jihadists in Africa

Burkina has new army chief

N’DJAMENA, Dec 30, (AFP): French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Thursday warned troops stationed in Africa’s Sahel region that they should “prepare for a long war” against jihadists.

He also promised Chad, where French troops have been stationed since 2014 under Operation Barkhane, his nation’s financial support.

“Our country must continue to make clear and ambitious budgetary decisions in support of our armies,” Cazeneuve said on his first overseas visit as prime minister.

The Barkhane forces’ mission is to target jihadist groups that are active in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert.

The operation was launched after French military interventions in Mali and Chad.

“We must prepare for a long war in an environment that has undergone dramatic shifts,” Cazeneuve said.

The French military is currently battling jihadists in two regions — in the Middle East against the Islamic State group, and in the Sahel where it has deployed 4,000 soldiers as part of the Barkhane force.

Operation Barkhane covers five nations: Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad.

Cazeneuve hailed troops fighting on fronts “thousands of kilometres away from their homes”. “You risk your lives to save others’,” he said. Four French troops have been killed in Mali this year.

Deby

Forces

Barkhane forces are working alongside Malian troops in the search for Sophie Petronin, a French aid worker who was kidnapped last weekend.

The prime minister also pledged France’s help for poverty-stricken Chad.

“France will always help Chad surmount its difficulties,” said Cazeneuve after a meeting with President Idriss Deby.

Like its neighbour, oil giant Nigeria, Chad has been undergoing a severe financial crisis as a result of a several months-long slump in the price of crude.

While the world’s major oil producers have agreed to cut back on production in order to bring prices back up, the impact of the change remains to be seen in the worst-affected nations.

The opposition in Chad is also critical of the political situation under Deby’s iron-fisted rule.

Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has named a new military commander, two weeks after jihadists killed 12 soldiers in a major raid, a government statement said Thursday.

Colonel Oumarou Sadou was made chief of the armed forces general staff, according to the document released after a cabinet meeting. He replaces General Pingrenoma Zagre.

The appointment “comes in the framework of the reorganisation of the armed forces”, Kabore said on Twitter.

Sadou, 57, comes from the arid Sahel region in northern Burkina Faso, which is frequently attacked by jihadists from Mali, across the border.

On Dec 12, jihadists killed 12 soldiers in one such attack against an army squad at Nassoumbou in the Djibo district, about 30 kms (19 miles) from the frontier.

The raid — the deadliest ever against Burkina Faso’s military — caused a public outcry, with some calling for the sacking of a military leadership accused of failing to match up to the jihadist threat.

A first attack on troops in the same region in October left six dead, two civilians as well as four soldiers.

Sadou, who served as army chief of staff in 2011 and was later entrusted with the oversight tasks of inspector of the armed forces, has a reputation for tough tactics.