Ministers mull U-turn in Britain’s Sahel strategy

Senior government ministers are preparing to hold a closed door meeting to conduct a full review of Britain's involvement in the Sahel, which is currently battling the fastest-growing jihadist insurgency on earth. Ministers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for International Development (Dfid) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) will discuss how the UK could scale back its involvement in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara Desert, as part of a government push to cut costs, the Telegraph understands. Britain has been directing resources towards the Sahel since 2018 as part of a post-Brexit vision for engaging with Africa's emerging markets and working with allies on overseas missions. The region is experiencing a dramatic escalation in jihadist activity, spreading across Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. It is understood that the three Chinook helicopters currently supporting French forces in the Sahel and 250-frontline troops the UK has pledged to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali will probably not be touched because of international agreements. But other elements could be at risk, including new embassies in Niger and Chad, the Joint Sahel Department in Whitehall, and hundreds of millions of pounds worth of humanitarian aid and military assistance. One senior source said the review is being pushed by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and a faction of Whitehall officials who do not believe the UK should spend any more manpower or resources on the crisis, which is spreading across swathes of west Africa.