Nigerian troops deployed to Mali to leave in 24 hours - DHQ

Col. Mohammed Yerima, the Director of Defence Information, announced this on Tuesday in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on the deployment.
 
``President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the immediate deployment of Nigerian troops to Mali and in the next 24 hours, a Company of the battalion will leave.
 
``We are deploying a battalion plus, which is about 900 troops to Mali. At the moment, we are deploying about 190 troops and the remaining troops will be deployed later,'' he said.
 
Yerima said that the degenerating crisis in Mali compelled the ECOWAS Heads of Government to intervene with the deployment of military forces.
 
He said that following the decision and in
line with Nigeria’s acclaimed peacekeeping roles and in the spirit of African brotherhood, the President approved the deployment of the troops.
 
The defence spokesman said that the Commander of the troops, Maj.-Gen. Shehu Abdulkadir, was already in Mali.
 
``Also, a technical team of the Nigerian Army and Air Force is already in Mali to facilitate the eventual full deployment of a fighter aircraft and support elements.
 
``The Nigerian troops will work along with troops from other West African countries and some other Western forces, including that of France, which is already in Mali too,’’ he said.
 
Yerima noted that it was the UN Security Council Resolution 2085 of December 2012 that approved the deployment of the ECOWAS Security Force, following the request of the Malian Government.
 He said the move was aimed at assisting Mali to reclaim its north from the Islamic militants