The United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has vowed to broaden support for the violence-wracked Sahel beyond the realm of security, pitching the US as a better partner than Russia which has been expanding its footprint in the region.
Speaking to AFP on the highest-level visit ever by a US official to Niger, Blinken called for moving on from what was often seen as a military-first approach by the US and the country’s former colonial power France, which wound up a controversial nine-year operation in Mali in November.
