(L-R) Burkina Faso's President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Chad's President Idriss Deby and Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou pose during G5 Sahel Summit at the Koulouba Presidential Palace in Bamako, Mali, July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Luc Gnago
BAMAKO (Reuters) - African powers launched a new multinational military force to tackle Islamist militants in the Sahel on Sunday, which French President Emmanuel Macron told a regional summit should be fully operational by the autumn despite its current budget shortfall.
Some observers see the initiative of the G5 Sahel bloc - Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad - as forming the basis of an eventual exit strategy for around 4,000 French troops now deployed to the volatile region. But Macron said Paris had no plans to withdraw them.
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