Italy’s PM wants to transfer soldiers from Iraq to Niger to fight terrorism, slavery

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is to ask parliament to transfer some of the country’s 1,400 soldiers deployed in Iraq to Niger. He revealed his proposal Sunday. Given the “military defeat” of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq, Italy has to “continue to work, concentrating our attention and energies on the threat of people trafficking and terrorism in the Sahel,” Gentiloni said. "For this reason, part of our forces in Iraq will be deployed to Niger in coming months – this is the proposal the government will make to parliament," he said, without elaborating on how many soldiers would be sent to the region.