United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, September 3 again pushed for the U.N. to help fund a regional counter-insurgency force in the Sahel, warning “we are not winning the war against terrorism” in the region.

“I am in favor of funding by the United Nations, with obligatory contributions for the G5 Sahel force,” Guterres said in an interview with Radio France Internationale.

“I totally believe we are not winning the war against terrorism in the Sahel and that the operation should be strengthened.”

An insurgency by Islamist militants, some linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda, on the Sahara’s southern rim, has rocked the impoverished states of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger.

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