Niger to recruit 5,000 soldiers to counter militants

Niger has announced a plan to recruit 5,000 soldiers to boost its fight against various Islamists militants groups that the army is battling.

It shows the seriousness of the situation the military faces - and is 3,000 more recruits than the army's usual annual intake.

The military said the recruitment - of those aged between 18 and 25 -would be done in May.

The landlocked West African nation is grappling with:

• Boko Haram fighters in the south, near its border with Nigeria
• And militants linked to Islamic State groups and al-Qaeda in the west, bordering Mali and Burkina Faso.

BBCCopy The recruitment comes as France plans to withdraw its troops from neighbouring Mali - potentially leaving a vacuum - after nearly a decade in the fight against extremist groups in the Sahel region.

Niger President Bazoum Mohammed had hoped the French troops would be redeployed to his country, but that has yet to be agreed on.