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An Air-Protection detachment from the French Air Forces attends the arrival of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls at the Air Base 101 for a visit to the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) on November 23, 2014 in Niamey as part of a two-day regional visit, in a show of support for a French-led anti-jihadist force. French troops intervened in the nearby country, Mali, in January 2013 to chase out hardline Islamists, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which had seized control of the country's northern desert cities. This intervention was replaced several months ago by a wider counter-terrorism operation, codenamed Barkhane, in five countries along the southern rim of the Sahara -- Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. AFP PHOTO/MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)