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In response to salafi-jihadi insurgencies in the Sahara-Sahel region, the official deployment of the G5 Sahel’s Joint Force was launched, in Bamako, in July 2017, with the presence of French President. This African-led counter-terrorism operation challenges African Union’s monopoly over conflict management on the continent and highlights the intense relations African States nurture with their international partners. The robust counter-terrorism mandate of this ambitious regional military mechanism and its innovative architecture stress the deficiencies of both the African and International security systems towards growing asymmetric and regional threats. Despite severe human, financial and technical challenges it will face to become operational, the Joint Force foreshadows the emergence of a Sahelian collective defence system and the reshaping of institutional arrangements in the field of conflict management.