US pledges $60m to anti-terror squad
But tells UN meeting that Washington has reservation to expand its involvement in Africa’s Sahel region
The Trump administration said on Monday it would contribute an initial $60 million (Dh220 million) to help five nations in Africa’s Sahel region build a crossborder counterterrorism force but balked at a plan to provide multilateral support through the United Nations (UN).
US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the UN Security Council that “we have reservations” about a proposal to expand an existing peacekeeping operation in the arid, sub-Saharan region of West Africa to provide logistical and other assistance to the force.
The peacekeeping group, called MINUSMA, “expends most of its resources protecting and supplying itself” amid increasing terrorist attacks, she said.
The Security Council meeting came amid growing international concern about the Sahel, where terrorism is on the rise, and local criminal and extremist groups have increasingly sought alliances with Al Qaida and Daesh.
Earlier this month, four US soldiers, part of a longterm mission to train and assist local forces in Niger, were killed in a militant ambush. Three MINUSMA members were killed last week. Neither the more than 800 American troops in Niger nor the more than 13,000-strong MINUSMA force in neighbouring Mali are authorised to launch offensive operations against the militants.
Security forces of the five Sahel countries — Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania — cannot cross each other’s borders to pursue attackers, and coordination has been limited.
G5 troops
Earlier this year, with strong support from France, the former colonial power that has 4,000 troops in the region, the countries proposed forming their own 5,000-strong cross-border force. Since then, the force, known as the G5, has recruited troops, built a headquarters, and written an operational plan and budget. France has contributed money, along with other European governments and the European Union.
The US has objected to UN funding plans.