Canada mulls sending forces to Mali to train government forces

Canada mulls sending forces to Mali in an alleged bid to train Malian soldiers battling the militants controlling the northern part of the West African country.

“We are constantly keeping track of the situation not only in Mali but in other parts of the world and the region,” Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said on Monday.

“We are not at a point where we can be making an announcement. As you know training is something that the Canadian forces are particularly adept at doing,” he said.

On Thursday, Malian Prime Minister Diango Cissoko called for foreign military intervention to help retake the north “as quickly as possible.”

The United Nations Security Council approved foreign military intervention in Mali on December 20 and authorized an initial one-year-long deployment of African Union forces in the African country.

The resolution, which had been drafted by France, also authorized all European Union member states to help rebuild Mali’s security forces.

In November, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to send 3,300 forces, mostly from Nigeria, Niger, and Burkina Faso, to help Mali’s government regain control of the north.

Chaos broke out in the West African country after Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure was toppled in a military coup on March 22. The coup leaders said they mounted the coup in response to the government’s inability to contain the two-month-old Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country.