France’s Armed Forces Minister is traveling to Washington in the coming days to discuss US military support to French forces in the Sahel region, the ministry said in a statement. Paris has 4,500 troops in Mali and the wider Sahel and announced on Monday Jan.14 the sending of additional 220 troops to the region to address the worsening security situation. The United States provides intelligence, logistics and drones support for the French forces, but there have been mixed signals from Washington that it could pull out. “We count on the precious support of the United States for the success of this consolidated effort,” France’s armed forces minister, Florence Parly told lawmakers on Wednesday. “We must recognize that peacekeeping missions are not the answer to the growing terrorist threats in Mali,” she insisted.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 16, 2020 16:30 UTC