Chad plans to deploy 1,200 troops to combat armed groups in a violence-wracked Sahel border zone as France eyes a reduction of its military presence in the vast, volatile region.

Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and France are holding talks on the future of their military campaign against violent groups in the Sahel, which according to the UN have killed thousands and displaced more than two million.

  • Chadian soldiers patrol in the Nigerian border town of Gamboru on February 4, 2015, after taking control of the city. Around 2,000 Chadian troops backed by armoured vehicles poured across the border into Gamboru on February 3 after the African Union last week backed a regional force to take on the extremists. AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE YAS (Photo credit should read STEPHANE YAS/AFP/Getty Images)

The Chadian soldiers will be deployed to the border zone between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, Chad’s President Idriss Deby Itno said on Twitter during the two-day regional summit on Monday.

Chad, which reputedly has the best-armed forces among the G5 Sahel nations, promised a year ago to send a battalion to the area.

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