At UN Assembly, sub-Saharan leaders call for increased UN aid to regional anti-terror force
“Multifaceted support from the international community and our Organization is indispensable,” Chadian Foreign Minister Hissein Brahim Taha, Minister for Foreign Affairs said.
In June the UN Security Council endorsed the formation the G5 Sahel joint force, comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, to combat terrorism and transnational organized crime in the restive region.
Beyond attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram, Mr. Taha also highlighted a host of other regional concerns including climate change and the drying up of Lake Chad upon which 50 million people depend for their livelihoods, all of which contribute to the massive migration crisis.
Full statement (in French) available here
Niger voiced its concern at the lack of international support for the G5 Sahel force. “What is at stake in the Sahel is a battle not only for regional peace and security but also for international peace and security,” Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yacoubou told the Assembly.
“Not to aid the G5 Sahel and to allow the situation in Mali to degenerate further into implosion would be a mistake that Member States should not commit,” he said.
As the three major threats facing Niger, he cited the situation in Libya where terrorists and arms traffickers have free rein, the battle against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad area, and the fight against terrorists and arms traffickers in northern Mali.