Credit: Wikipedia Commons /  A French military helicopter over the Nigerien town Madama, which serves as a forward operating base for the French, Niger and Chad armies in Operation Barkhane in Sahel region of Africa.

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Portugal have  committed troops to a new French-led special forces mission in the Africa Sahel region called Task Force Takuba, according to a statement of defence ministers released last week. The move comes as the U.S. plans troop reductions in the  troubled Sahel. Terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa Sahel  region have increased dramatically during the past few years. On  March 19,  at least 29 soldiers  were killed in an attack  on an army post in northeast Mali, according to the armed forces.  It was the deadliest attack since last November 2019  when at least 54 soldiers  were killed in an attack  on an army base in northern Mali.

“The security situation in Mali, and more broadly in the Sahel, remains a major concern. Despite constant engagement by national, regional and international forces, organized armed groups keep destabilizing large parts of Mali and are now present in Niger and Burkina Faso. Recent attacks in the three-border region, where the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)/Daesh is challenging the Sahelian states authority, has forced the regional authorities and the international community to focus more efforts on this area.”

-Task Force Takuba: political statement by the governments of Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Mali, Niger, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Humanitarian Situation in Africa Sahel Deteriorating

“Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation is progressively deteriorating. Large numbers of locals have been
forced to flee their homes and to relocate due to intimidation by terrorists. Attacks from organized armed
groups conducting terrorist activities have already claimed the lives of many civilians, as well as national
and international troops,” according to   the joint statement.

New Task Force To Bolster France Operation Barkhane, G5 Sahel Joint Action 

“In order to counter and degrade terrorist resilience, and to accompany the efforts of operation Barkhane
and the G5 Sahel Joint Force, an effective and tailored response is of vital importance,” the statement continued. “At the request of the Malian and Nigerien authorities, BELGIUM, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FRANCE, GERMANY, the NETHERLANDS, NORWAY, PORTUGAL, SWEDEN and the UNITED KINGDOM politically support the creation of a task force, integrated to the command of operation Barkhane, aiming at tackling the terrorist groups in the Liptako region.” 

Takuba will be under the command of France’s Operation ‘Barkhane’ regional counter-insurgency mission.

France announced it will deploy an additional 220 troops to the Sahel to beef up its current 4,500-strong Operation Barkhane force. France’s military presence in its old colonial backyard in West Africa has sparked tremendous hostility toward French policy from Africans living in the region.

Sweden Plans to Participate in  New Task Force in Mali

The Swedish Government has submitted a bill to the Riksdag with a proposal regarding Swedish participation with parts of the Swedish Armed Forces Special Forces. Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist attended on 27 March a telephone conference with five other European Defense Ministers and the Defense Ministers in Mali and Niger to discuss a Task Force in the southeastern Mali – operation Takuba. The meeting, which was chaired by the French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly, was held remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Avec Takuba, les Européens montrent leur capacité à se mobiliser ensemble pour leur sécurité. Quand elle s’unit, l’Europe est forte.”

-Florence Parly – Twitter

Lancement aujourd'hui de la Task Force Takuba, ce groupement de forces spéciales européennes au sein de Barkhane qui accompagnera les forces armées maliennes dans leur montée en puissance face aux groupes armés terroristes.

— Florence Parly (@florence_parly) March 27, 2020

Task Force Takuba is planned to have an initial operational capability (IOC) by the summer of 2020 and expected to become operational (FOC) by early 2021.

U.S. and Germany Have Declined to Contribute Troops

Meanwhile,  U.S. Steps Up Diplomatic Engagement In Africa SAHEL Amid Extremists Attacks

Credit:  Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times  /  U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy  at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. March 3, 2020 speaks on progress in  U.S. – Africa Policy.

 The U.S. Trump administration has dispatched a ‘Special Envoy’  to the Sahel region amid the unprecedented Jihadist violence plaguing the  area in West Africa.  The U.S. top diplomat for Africa Tibor Nagy said the administration will remain very engaged in the Sahel. “We are not cutting back,” said Nagy, who serves as the Department of State’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.  Secretary of State Michael Pompeo appointed Dr. J. Peter Pham as the first-ever U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel region of Africa to maximize American diplomatic efforts in support of stability amid an unprecedented surge in terror attacks. Special Envoy Pham is responsible for coordinating America’s engagement with international and regional partners, including the G5 Sahel and ECOWAS member states, to address the threat from Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs) and prevent the VEO threat from impacting additional areas, as well as supporting the implementation of the Algiers Accord and regional efforts to stabilize the tri-border region of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.