Chinese troops bolster UN peacekeeping mission in Mali
Second unit of soldiers from China arrives in Mali's capital Bamoko to reinforce UN presence in face of Islamist insurgency
A unit of Chinese soldiers arrived in Mali on Thursday to strengthen the United Nations peacekeeping force in the troubled west African nation’s rebel-infested north, sources said.
A foreign diplomatic source in the capital Bamako said 245 Chinese troops would join a 150-strong contingent which has been stationed since December in Gao, the largest city in Mali’s northern desert and the target of sporadic Islamist violence.
A source from the UN’s MINUSMA force confirmed the deployment but said he wasn’t immediately able to provide details.
UN peacekeepers took over security in July last year from the pan-African AFISMA military mission, which had been supporting French troops who entered Mali to push back an Islamist incursion that was advancing on the capital.
France is winding down its deployment from a peak of around 5,000 soldiers but is to keep 1,000 troops in Mali beyond the Spring.
MINUSMA is made up largely of Africans but China offered in May last year to supply more than 500 troops in what was to be its biggest contribution to UN peacekeeping.