Page 6 - The Sandbag Times Issue No:58

NEWS

AUGUST EDITION

British Troops to Join Force

Countering Mali Militants

Story: The Guardian - Jason Burke Africa correspondent Image: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

ritish troops will be deployed in dertaken by the organisation anywhere in following year to halt their advance and
Mali next year to join in the world’s the world. More than 170 people deployed 4,000 French troops remain there.
Bdeadliest peacekeeping operation, by the UN have been killed there between The UN security council later deployed
the Ministry of Defence has announced. 2013 and February. peacekeepers, which have been targets of
a fierce insurgent campaign. A 2015 peace
The 250-strong force will provide a long- Penny Mordaunt, the defence minister, deal signed by Mali’s government and
range reconnaissance capability for the said it was right that “in one of the world’s separatist groups failed to end the violence
United Nations deployment in the trou- poorest and most fragile regions we and instability has since spread across the
bled African country which has struggled support some of world’s most vulnerable region.
to decisively counter Islamic militants, people … UK service personnel will work
armed separatists and traffickers. with our partners in the region to help More than 200,000 people have been
promote peace by combating the threat of displaced in Mali since the start of 2019
The deployment is likely to place British violent extremism and protecting human and about 600 killed in a series of militia
troops in combat situations, facing risks of rights in Mali”. attacks. Islamic extremists have staged as-
ambushes and roadside bombs in remote saults on high-profile targets in the capital,
and hostile environments. Mali, which occupies a key location in the Bamako, and in neighbouring Burkina
centre of the restive Sahel, was plunged Faso and Ivory Coast. There is also vio-
The UN is operating alongside a French- into chaos in 2012 when Tuareg separa- lence in neighbouring Niger, where four
led force that has been fighting Islamic tists and Islamic extremists joined forces US servicemen were killed in an ambush
militants in Mali for six years. The mission to take control of much of the north of by Islamic militants in 2017.
is known as one of the most dangerous un- the country. French forces intervened the Read the Full Story here...

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