The first of 300 British troops have arrived in Mali to bolster the United Nations peacekeeping mission there, with the rest due to follow within a week.

The United Kingdom's defence ministry says the force will join 14,000 peacekeepers from 50 nations to protect Mali’s population from growing Islamist violence.

More than 5,000 French troops have underpinned the operation, but President EMMANUEL MACRON is under pressure to reduce his forces.

The mission to the Sahel region of Africa has been described as the world's most dangerous peacekeeping deployment.