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France's president and his counterparts from the Sahel region are due to meet to discuss military operations against Islamist militants in West Africa. Attacks on army positions and civilians across the region are occurring with increasing regularity, despite the presence of thousands of troops from both the countries affected and France. The Sahel region, a semi-arid stretch of land just south of the Sahara Desert, has been a frontline in the war against Islamist militancy for almost a decade. Andrew Lebovich writes about North Africa, the Sahel, and France and is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

(Picture: Armed soldiers of the Niger National Guard. Credit: Scott Peterson/Getty Images)