The French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on Wednesday said France will increase its West African counter insurgency forces to support the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fighting Boko Haram in West Africa.     

“We will slightly increase the numbers on Barkhane to give us the means to support and accompany the tensions that are taking place around Lake Chad,” he said, without giving details.

Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin have mobilised forces this year to help Nigeria defeat Boko Haram after it seized large amounts of territory and staged cross-border attacks.

France already has about 3,000 troops, excluding special forces, spanning from Mauritania in the West to southern Libya in the East tasked with hunting down al Qaeda-linked groups.