Togo presidency to oversee armed forces as security worsens

FILE PHOTO: President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe is seen during the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government 54th Ordinary Session in Abuja, Nigeria December 22, 2018. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

LOME (Reuters) - Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé will oversee the armed forces as part of a reshuffle amid growing security concerns in the northern regions, according to a decree announced on Friday.

Until this year, Togo had been spared the frequent Islamist violence that has spread across most of West Africa over the past decade, including into Togo's northern neighbour Burkina Faso.