Germany extends mandates for three military missions to Africa

Germany’s cabinet has extended mandates for three military missions to Africa.

Participation in the European Union’s training mission for security forces EUTM in Mali and in MINUSMA, the UN’s stabilization mission to Mali, would continue unchanged, the cabinet said Wednesday.

The maximum contribution to Operation Atalanta, the anti-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa, is to be cut back to 400 from 600 previously. Only 80 German military personnel are currently deployed.

Around 900 German troops are currently deployed to MINUSMA in Mali and Niger to counter Islamist and other rebel groups. The upper limit has been set at 1,100.

EUTM Mali has been under German leadership since November 2018. Some 180 troops are currently deployed. The upper limit has been set at 350.

The cabinet decision needs to be passed by parliament, though the process is considered a formality.

Source: dpa