The defense ministers of 28 African states comprising the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) decided to set up an anti-terrorism regional center, the final declaration of the ministerial meeting held on Friday in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, Tunisia, Liberia, Guinea, Kenya and Eritrea are among the members of the organization.
“It is necessary to strengthen coordination and cooperation, the exchange of information in the field of counter-terrorism and combating transnational organized crime… For this purpose, it is planned to create a regional center for combating terrorism headquartered in the Egyptian capital,” the declaration reads.
The ministers also stressed the necessity to strengthen the countries’ border controls including by organizing joint border patrols.
The measures are expected to get an approval from the heads of the states at the summit of the organization to be held in Morocco in mid-2016.
