Nigeria begins to withdraw soldiers from Mali

Nigeria will Wednesday begin withdrawal of some of its troops from Mali because they are needed back home, where the country is battling a deadly Islamist insurgency.

t was not clear how many troops would be pulled from the west African nation, where Nigeria currently has some 1,000 troops, spokesman of the defence headquarters, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade said in a statement.

“The defence headquarters will tomorrow (Wednesday) commence the withdrawal of some Nigerian troops from the Peace Support Operations in Mali,” it said.

“The troops are mainly those not accommodated in the structures of the newly formed United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). They are to join the ongoing internal security operations in the country.”