The Trump administration is considering providing up to $60 million to a five-nation counterterrorism task force in the Sahel region of Africa, several weeks after a deadly firefight drew public attention to the US military’s presence there.
“Defeating terrorism depends on making sure terrorist organizations cannot have safe havens on any continent,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement Monday.
“To that end, pending consultation with Congress, the United States is today pledging up to $60 million to support the G5 Sahel Joint Force’s counterterrorism efforts,” he added, referring to a UN-backed group of five Sahel countries — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — who joined with the African Union to address terrorism and organized crime in the region.
“This money will bolster our regional partners in their fight to ensure security and stability in the face of ISIS and affiliated groups and other terrorist networks,” Tillerson went on to say in his statement. “This is a fight we must win, and these funds will play a key role in achieving that mission.”
The announcement comes as diplomats from around the world are meeting to raise money for the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which is made up of regional military and police personnel, as well as United Nations peacekeepers and French troops.
The group has estimated that it would need a budget of nearly $500 million in its first year, but pledges have so far fallen short of that, with the European Union promising about $58 million, and each of the participating African governments committing a little over $11 million annually.
A State Department spokesperson told CNN the funding is being provided as bilateral assistance, rather than through the United Nations, which US officials previously indicated they wanted to avoid.
“The money pledged will be provided through in-kind support to G5 partners,” the spokesperson said. “It will not be spent through the UN.”
Speaking to reporters during a recent trip to Africa, the commander of US Africa Command, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser expressed support for the G5 Sahel effort but suggested the United States was opposed to funding it through the UN peacekeeping budget.
“What we want is that we want that organization, and we want to support it,” said Waldhauser. “But [the Defense Department] does not support a UN-mandated force in there.”
The US military currently has about 1,000 troops in the region, conducting surveillance and constructing a drone base in Agadez, Niger, as well as training and advising local forces. That mission is primarily focused on countering the threat posed by extremist groups, including Boko Haram, and other groups with ties to al Qaeda and ISIS.
Earlier this month, a team of US and Nigerien soldiers came under fire from militants near Niger’s border with Mali, resulting in the deaths of four US servicemen.
The firefight triggered increased scrutiny from lawmakers on the US mission in the Sahel.
In an interview with CNN last week, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the United States is primarily playing “supporting roles” there, by assisting the French and local governments.