More than two million people have been forced to flee their homes within their own countries' borders owing to violence engulfing Africa's Sahel region, according to the United Nations. The humanitarian response is "dangerously overstretched" in an area covering parts of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, said UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Islamist jihadis in the unstable region have killed thousands of soldiers. French President Emmanuel Macron is thought to want support for a troop drawdown amid rising numbers of French combat deaths.

As this year's G5 Sahel summit kicks off in Chad, France is making no secret of the fact it wants to reduce the number of French troops fighting the jihadist threat in the region. So what will be France's strategy going forward? Our Perspective guest is Jérôme Pigné, researcher and Sahel expert at the Thomas Moore Institute.

International donors on Tuesday pledged to assist countries in Africa's Sahel region. The UN sounded the alarm over the millions in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger who are facing acute hunger during a militant insurgency.

Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno was a major figure in the battle against Islamist extremists in North Africa. His death this week, officially from wounds on the battlefront, leaves the fight without a key ally.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the withdrawal of more than 2,000 troops and the closure of military bases in Mali.

French President Emmanuel Macron has hailed the killing of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the "Islamic State in the Sahara," as a "huge success." But analysts warn that the terror threat is far from over.

German police officer Antje Pittelkau took up the post of head of the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission in January. She and her colleagues are there to support Niger in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.

Europe and Africa already had more than enough in their in-tray going into their first Brussels summit in nearly eight years. Now you can add coup contagion and the pullout of French-led anti-terror forces from Mali. The day began in Paris for key players in the Sahel. Will the crisis overshadow the EU-African Union summit?

President Mohamed Bazoum says Niger will welcome foreign special forces to secure the region. He said threats from the militant groups would likely rise as France pulls its troops out of Mali.

Mali's military junta has announced it will be exiting a multi-national military force tackling an insurgency in West Africa's Sahel region.

In the Sahel, the number of informal mines is rising as gold mining areas escape state control. Mali is emerging as a gold-purchasing hub for Sahelian countries, while Dubai has become the main destination for artisanal gold production from the African continent. From the hidden smelters of Bamako to the artisanal mines of the Ivory Coast and a major gold market in Dubai, Caroline Dumay investigates the transforming global gold industry.