Turkey to donate $5mn for Sahel anti-militant force

Turkey will donate $5 million to a fledgling force of five nations battling terrorism and trafficking in the Sahel, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to Mauritania. The G5 force, comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, aims to train and equip 5,000 troops to restore authority in lawless areas where militants have gained a foothold. “Turkey is one of the countries which best understands the dangers with which you are confronted in the Sahel,” AFP quoted Erdogan as saying late on Wednesday in Nouakchott. The European Union announced an extra $61 million for the G5 Sahel force at a fundraising conference in Brussels on February 23.