How to make the Sahel safe? Two French hostages kidnapped on safari in northern Benin are free along with a South Korean and an American. But it came at a price: two elite French navy special forces were killed along with the French couple's driver before them. Six years after French-led forces chased jihadists out of northern Mali, Westerners are only one target in a region where poverty, weak states and land conflicts make it possible for small but determined radical groups to strike.

Produced by Alessandro XENOS, Juliette LAURAIN and Ingri BERGO.

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