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BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders meet Friday with West African counterparts in a show of support for the impoverished Sahel region that has fallen prey to extremists and is a key transit point for migrants heading to Europe.
The meeting is meant as a show of support for the five nations pursuing a new regional counterterror force: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
The 5,000-strong G5 Sahel force joins a number of security efforts that include France's largest overseas military operation, a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali and about 800 U.S. troops in Niger, where four soldiers were killed in an October ambush.
The G5 seeks more than 400 million euros ($500 million) for its mission along mostly desert borders, including near Libya, the main jumping-off point for migrants.
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