France to support new force fighting East Africa extremism, says Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron met in Mali on Sunday with heads of state from five countries across Africa’s Sahel region to support a new 5,000-strong multinational force to fight against armed groups in the area, Reuters reported.

Macron said France will provide military support including 70 tactical vehicles, communications equipment, and body armor for soldiers.

"Every day we must combat terrorists, thugs, murderers... who we must steadfastly and with determination eradicate together," Macron said at the opening of the summit on Sunday.

Leaders of the G5 Sahel countries declared that they will coordinate with French military support to establish the new force and deal with Mali’s struggling UN peacekeeping mission.

China has been playing an active role on combating extremism and terrorism in Africa.

In May last year, China offered to supply more than 500 troops in a major contribution to UN peacekeeping mission there, according to a source with the Mali UN peacekeeping mission.