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Sent to strengthen statistics as France cuts its work against 5,000 terrorist groups.
Mali’s Foreign Ministry says Chad is planning to send 1,000 more UN troops to Mali to strengthen its anti-terrorist forces in the former France region.
“The transfer is part of an agreement between the two countries to request the Chad government to strengthen their force in Northern Mali in the wake of the rehabilitation of Barkhane,” the ministry said on Saturday.
The Chadian army is home to about 1,400 troops in 13,000 UN forces in northern and central Mali, where the number of terrorists has increased even though the international alliance has been trying for nine years to win.
The upcoming deployment will strengthen other Chadian troops such as France mamba back his 5,000-strong counter-terrorism operation in Barkhane.
Earlier this week, French troops withdrew from the city of Timbuktu where, in 2013, former French President Francois Hollande announced the start of the French war in Mali.
In June this year, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the capture of a military base in Mali in August 2020, ousting President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
France has already closed three bases in northern Mali this year. By next year, it is expected to have about 3,000 troops in the Sahel, down from 5,100 when it is deployed.
Chad’s government spokesman Azem Bermendoa told Reuters on Saturday that more troops would be sent to Mali soon, but declined to specify the group’s size or timing.
“After the withdrawal of the French troops, we saw the need to strengthen the operational and prudent capacity of our team while waiting for the Malian army and the (UN) Blue Helmets to reconvene their deployment,” Bermendoa said.
Chad sent about 1,000 troops to the border areas of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali in February to encourage French troops after France spoke out to reduce its availability.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, or MINUSMA, was first deployed to the Sahel in 2013.
It has 16,500 employees, plus 10,700 soldiers, according to its website.
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