N'DJAMENA, 16 February, 2021 (TON): State leaders of Sahel, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger will be attending a two-day summit I the capital N’Djamena with French statesman, Emanuel Macron through a video link online.

President Macron is seeking to cut the number of troops considering the people’s opinion against the deployment in the Sahel and also to take into consideration the re-elections.  

The meeting comes a year after France boosted its Sahel deployment, seeking to take back momentum in the brutal, long-running insurgency.

The militants remain in control of the territory despite the military successes.

Six UN peacekeepers have been killed in Mali this year alone, and France has lost five soldiers since December.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, according to the UN, while more than two million people have fled their homes.

Now it is said that the military alone cannot defeat the insurgency.

Jean-Herve Jezequel, Sahel director for the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, told that conventional military engagement had failed to deliver a knockout blow.

Last Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a "diplomatic, political and development surge" to respond to the situation.

Last year, France upped its Barkhane mission in the Sahel from 4,500 troops to 5,100, a move that precipitated a string of apparent military successes.

France had been expected to draw down its troops last month; however, it is not expected to announce any troop withdrawal at N’Djamena despite rumors.  Instead, it is hoping for more military support from the European partners through the Takuba Task Force that is assisting in Mali against insurgency.