Story highlights "Defeating terrorism depends on making sure terrorist organizations cannot have safe havens on any continent," Rex Tillerson said

The announcement comes as diplomats from around the world are meeting to raise money for the G5 Sahel Joint Force

(CNN) The Trump administration is considering providing up to $60 million to a five-nation counterterrorism task force in the Sahel region of Africa, several weeks after a deadly firefight drew public attention to the US military's presence there.

"Defeating terrorism depends on making sure terrorist organizations cannot have safe havens on any continent," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement Monday.

"To that end, pending consultation with Congress, the United States is today pledging up to $60 million to support the G5 Sahel Joint Force's counterterrorism efforts," he added, referring to a UN-backed group of five Sahel countries — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — who joined with the African Union to address terrorism and organized crime in the region.

"This money will bolster our regional partners in their fight to ensure security and stability in the face of ISIS and affiliated groups and other terrorist networks," Tillerson went on to say in his statement. "This is a fight we must win, and these funds will play a key role in achieving that mission."

The announcement comes as diplomats from around the world are meeting to raise money for the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which is made up of regional military and police personnel, as well as United Nations peacekeepers and French troops.

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