G5: France to meet Sahel leaders as it mulls troop drawdown
(WorldNews France)

France and five allies meet next week to discuss the Sahel`s jihadist insurgency. France and five allies meet next week to discuss the Sahel`s jihadist insurgency, with Paris looking for support enabling it to cut French troop numbers in the strife-torn region. Leaders of the so-called G5 Sahel - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger - gather in the Chadian capital N`Djamena on Monday, with French President Emmanuel Macron attending via videolink. The two-day summit comes a year after France boosted its Sahel deployment, seeking to wrench back momentum in the brutal, long-running battle. But despite touted military successes, jihadists remain in control of vast swathes of territory...