...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
peacekeeping mission there, which is the world's deadliest, UK officials said on Thursday.
Britannia already has three Chinook helicopters and 100 personnel in a logistics role in West Africa's Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
to support La Belle France's Barkhane operation against Islamist
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
The UK mission to the United Nations said the latest deployment, which was first announced in July 2019, would "provide a highly specialised reconnaissance capability" to the 14,000-strong mission, known by its French acronym MINUSMA.
Most of the troops, who will be based in the northern city of Gao, have already arrived in Mali and the remainder will arrive by next Tuesday, it said in a statement.
"This deployment is a demonstration of our firm commitment to peacekeeping and the importance we place on improving security in the Sahel by protecting local communities," said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
MINUSMA was created in 2013 after La Belle France intervened to drive back jihadist fighters who had seized Mali's desert north and were advancing southward.
The mission has recorded 227 fatalities since then, making it the deadliest of the UN's more than dozen peacekeeping missions.
Related:
Mali: 2020-11-29 LNA Forces Arrest Al Qaeda Commander in Southern Libya
Mali: 2020-11-29 ICC establishes measures for victims in Mali
Mali: 2020-11-26 Prosecutors have unsealed the identities of the men involved in an on-going Portland child sex trafficking case
Mali: 2020-11-29 LNA Forces Arrest Al Qaeda Commander in Southern Libya
Mali: 2020-11-29 ICC establishes measures for victims in Mali
Mali: 2020-11-26 Prosecutors have unsealed the identities of the men involved in an on-going Portland child sex trafficking case
Related:
Barkhane operation: 2020-08-21 France says its military operation will continue in Mali
Barkhane operation: 2020-01-27 Macron Sends Defence Chief to U.S. to Beg Trump to Keep Troops in Africa
Barkhane operation: 2019-05-11 French military frees hostages in Burkina Faso, two commandos killed
Barkhane operation: 2020-08-21 France says its military operation will continue in Mali
Barkhane operation: 2020-01-27 Macron Sends Defence Chief to U.S. to Beg Trump to Keep Troops in Africa
Barkhane operation: 2019-05-11 French military frees hostages in Burkina Faso, two commandos killed