The opening session of the fifth Sahel-Saharan Defence Ministers Conference, headed by Egypt, was held early Thursday in Egypt’s red sea resort Sharm El-Sheikh, MENA reported.

A number of defence ministry representatives, ambassadors and military attaches from the 27 countries that form the Sahel-Saharan community are in attendance, alongside Egyptian Minister of Defence Sedki Sobhi.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is expected to head to Sharm El-Sheikh later today to participate in the conference, according to media reports.

In his inauguration speech, Sobhi strongly condemned what he described as “brutal terrorist attacks” that hit Brussels Tuesday.

He added that Africa, especially Sahel-Saharan countries, has been facing many challenges, especially in the fight against terrorism.

The meetings will focus on ways to reactivate regional cooperation in security and military matters in combating terrorism in the region of the Sahel and Sahara, as well as legal and structural matters relevant to the organisation.

The two-day conference is expected to end Friday.

Meetings have been ongoing in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh since Tuesday, 22 March, with military experts from Sahel-Saharan countries preparing the agenda of the two-day conference. The conference convening in Egypt comes ahead of a summit of heads of member states of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States organisation, to be held in Morocco later this year.