Czech Republic to send troops to join anti-terror war in Africa

FILE: Cars damaged by conflict in Dori, northern Burkina Faso, 23 May 2019. (Photo by Giles Clarke/UNOCHA via Getty Images)

The Czech government on Monday approve a Defense Ministry plan to deploy troops to the counter-terrorism drive in Africa.

The approval greenlights the deployment of up to 60 troops to join France’s anti-terror mission in the continent.

The Czech team will join the French mission in the troubled Sahel region, dubbed Operation Barkhane.

The mission is France’s largest outside its borders and was started in 2014 to fight Islamist terrorism and help local governments gain control of their territories from the militant groups.

The Czech government said Mali, Niger and Chad approved the deployment of its troops.

The Czechs already have some 120 troops in Mali as a part of an European Union training mission.

( AP)