The International Forum on Peace and Security opened in Dakar on Monday with a call from Senegal President, Macky Sall for stronger support for the UN peacekeeping force in neighboring Mali.

"Fighting terrorism in the Sahel is both a duty of solidarity and an imperative for collective security," said Sall, adding, "in Africa and outside the continent we are all threatened, we all have an interest in peacekeeping."

Sall's concerns are shared by other regional leaders, including Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani as well as European nations.

French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe called for more cohesion in fighting terrorists in the Sahel.

"In some territories, we have managed to eradicate, at least to contain or even to reverse the jihadist threat,” he said, adding that in other territories, the jihadist threat is developing, thriving "on a breeding ground of pre-existing tensions."

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would like to build up the G5 Sahel, a group of 5,000 military personnel from Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad.

France already has the anti-jihad Operation Barkhane in place in the region, where 4,500 soldiers have been mobilized.

"Even if these states do not face in a direct way the extension of the terrorist threat, they hold part of the solution to fight it." said Philippe.

Source: Radio France