Canada to send peacekeepers to Mali

Canada will be dispatching an aviation task force to the troubled West African nation of Mali as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission, a senior government official said Friday.
The government source said the task force will be in Mali for up to 12 months and an official announcement on the deployment will be made Monday.
It will be Canada’s first peacekeeping mission in Africa since the early 1990s when troops were sent to Rwanda and Somalia.
Mali has been in turmoil since a 2012 uprising prompted soldiers to overthrow the country’s president. The power vacuum that was created led to an Islamic insurgency and a French-led war that ousted the jihadists from power in 2013.
The deployment to Mali will help fulfil a pledge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made in November during a peacekeeping summit in Vancouver.
The prime minister unveiled a package of measures, which include offering up to six helicopters and two transport aircraft, plus their associated pilots and support personnel, as well as a 200-strong quick reaction force to the UN.