NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) – International and regional powers on Tuesday agreed to intensify their military efforts against Islamist militants in the West African Sahel region after a summit to discuss their next steps, according to a final communique.
The leaders of the so-called G-5 Sahel nations, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad, who were joined by EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, also said that any of their troops found guilty of human rights abuses against civilians would be punished severely.
“The heads of State stressed the need to intensify the fight on all fronts by national and international forces against terrorist groups,” the final communique said.
(Reporting by John Irish and Michel Rose in Paris ; editing by Bate Felix)
