French Minister for the Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly arrives to attend the first government meeting after the summer break at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, August 28, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
TOULON, France (Reuters) - France has decided to arm its surveillance drones in West Africa as part of counter-terrorism operations against Islamist militants, Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Tuesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron has made fighting Islamist militants his primary foreign policy objective and the move to armed drones fits into a more aggressive policy at a time when it looks increasingly unlikely Paris will be able to withdraw from the region in the medium to long-term.
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