Op PRESENCE/Mali (Cdn mission/s, sitreps, etc. - merged)

[Journeyman]

.....UN ........good intel.

        :rofl:

Oh, you were serious.  :-[

 

[CougarKing]

Defense News

France To Cut Troops In Mali, Says Mission Accomplished
Jan. 8, 2014 - 06:09PM  |  By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

CREIL, FRANCE — France will cut its troops in Mali to 1,600 by the middle of next month from the current level of 2,500, President Francois Hollande said Wednesday.

Speaking at an airbase in Creil in northern France, Hollande said the “situation is well under control” in Mali, where the “key objectives of the mission have been accomplished.”

“The troop size will be reduced from about 2,500 at present to 1,600 and then to 1,000 which is the number necessary to fight any threat that might resurface as these terrorist groups are still present in northern Mali,” the president said.

(...)

 

[CougarKing]

Another ISIS-affiliated group?

Associated Press

Islamic extremists attack hotel in Mali's capital that was full of foreigners

By Harouna Traore And Baba Ahmed, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press

BAMAKO, Mali - Islamic extremists armed with guns and throwing grenades stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Friday morning, killing at least three people and initially taking numerous hostages, authorities said.

The Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel group that operates the hotel said early on that the assailants had "locked in" 140 guests and 30 employees.

Malian troops reacted quickly. As people ran for their lives near the hotel along a dirt road, the soldiers in full combat gear pointed the way to safety. Within hours, local TV images showed heavily armed troops in what appeared to be a lobby area.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[tomahawk6]

AQ affiliate.The hotel assault by Malian and French SF was successful but not without casualties I am afraid.Two US SF who had been attending a meeting at the US embassy joined the assault to help rescue american hostages.It could have been alot worse.

http://news.yahoo.com/shooting-under-way-radisson-hotel-bamako-afp-085446175.html#

 

[The Bread Guy]

Wherever could such peacekeepers come from, pray tell?

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the Security Council to add just over 2,500 peacekeepers to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, which has been hit by a series of deadly attacks, according to a new U.N. report.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack a day earlier on two U.N. sites in northern Mali where a peacekeeper from China and three civilians were killed and over a dozen others were wounded.

Ban's report to the 15-nation Security Council, issued Tuesday and seen by Reuters on Wednesday, calls for increasing the maximum number of U.N. soldiers in Mali by 2,049 personnel, which would raise the force's authorized strength to 13,289.

The report said the additional troops should bring capabilities such as intelligence gathering and surveillance, explosive disposal and protecting supply convoys ...

Meanwhile ...

• "The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack on 31 May 2016 against the camp of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Gao, in the north of Mali, during which one peacekeeper from the People’s Republic of China was killed and others were injured ..."
• "The Secretary-General is outraged by the terrorist attacks carried out yesterday in Gao, Mali, against the United Nations ..."
• "In two separate incidents that took place yesterday in the Gao area of Mali’s restive north, terrorists attacked an outpost of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA), as well as the services of a local provider for the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the most recent in a string of deadly attacks against the UN in the country ..."

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest:  Op BARKHANE becomes Op FREQUENCE:

The Canadian Armed Forces conducted their first flight under Operation FREQUENCE, providing airlift support to France’s operations in West Africa and the Sahel region.

On November 20, 2016, a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-177 Globemaster strategic airlifter transported personnel and equipment from France to West Africa and the Sahel region.

Canada has provided airlift support to France, an important Ally, in the past. Op FREQUENCE is the most recent Canadian contribution to stability and security in this region.

Quote

    “The CAF airlift contribution to operations in West Africa and the Sahel region demonstrates our readiness in bringing valuable capabilities in support to regional and international security and stability.”

    Lieutenant-General Stephen Bowes, Commander Canadian Joint Operations Command

 

[The Bread Guy]

An editorial (shared under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)) ...

François Hollande, the French President, visited Mali earlier this month, just a few days before Islamist terrorists carried out a particularly savage attack in that central African country.

That ought to be a vivid reminder of the risks that the Trudeau government may be taking before long in Mali, too. The Liberal Party promised in its election platform to revive Canadian peacekeeping, and it is now expected that the government will send as many as 600 troops to Mali this year to support a beleaguered United Nations mission there.

They will be walking into a war zone. The jihadi terrorist attack in the northern part of Mali killed more than 70 people at a camp housing pro-government forces. Last year, at least 17 UN peacekeepers were killed in terrorist attacks; 68 have been killed since the mission began in 2013.

The UN mission to Mali is not the peacekeeping of old, in which troops wearing blue helmets kept warring factions apart but were largely insulated from any fighting. In northern Mali, there are at least five terrorist groups in operation, and they are happy to target anyone they associate with the government.

As well, a chief aspect of the UN mission is to protect civilians, which means personnel are allowed to conduct pre-emptive strikes against militants. But few, if any, of the Canadians would be experienced in this semi-desert warfare – this country’s fraught mission to Afghanistan would be the closest equivalent.

President Hollande’s commitment to Mali is rooted in the former French empire in Africa. Canadian companies do have mining interests in Mali, but that has little or nothing to do with the notion of Canadian military personnel in that country.

Canada may be on the verge of putting many of our soldiers in harm’s way in a country where we don’t have an interest that would merit such a move. In fact, the only discernible motivation is Ottawa’s desire to re-establish Canada as a peacekeeping nation, after the previous government backed away from that role.

How many young Canadians will have to die or be injured in order to fulfill this election promise? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan should exercise real caution, rather than getting too caught up in uplifting notions.

... and a letter to the editor (scroll down):

Who is sent to war

Re On Mali, Proceed With Extreme Caution (editorial, Jan. 24): The best test of the justification for sending troops into areas of high risk is whether the people who propose to send them believe the cause is worthy of risking their own or their children’s lives. In the two world wars, Canada’s elites, like those of most allied countries, did not stint in enlisting and encouraging their children to enlist. How often does this happen today?

In Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and now perhaps Mali, the Canadian political and foreign policy establishment sent Canadian men and women into battle without risking much more than a spilled drink at the Rideau Club. Unlike the days of, say, the Spanish Civil War, sympathetic intellectuals volunteer only for CBC panel duty. If a cause isn’t worthy of risking the lives of our best and brightest, then it isn’t worthy of risking any of our lives.

To argue otherwise – isn’t risk what soldiers sign on for? – is to treat our Canadian servicemen and women as nothing more than expendable mercenaries.

Michael Bliss, historian, Toronto

 

[The Bread Guy]

My French is weak, but a politician saying military ops in Mali's a "Sisyphus in the Sahel" can't be good news.

 

[Ashkan08]

The Canadian peacekeeping mission in Mali has started.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-mali-peacekeeping-mission-1.4794747

 

[Rifleman62]

The Canadian peacekeeping mission in Mali has started.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-mali-peacekeeping-mission-1.4794747

"The Canadian peacekeeping mission in Mali has started". Statements like that is why the Cdn public are ill informed.

 

[Ashkan08]

"The Canadian peacekeeping mission in Mali has started". Statements like that is why the Cdn public are ill informed.

Of course the mission won't be "peaceful" at all times. Especially since the MINUSMA mission is one of the most dangerous UN peace operations. It is however, considered a UN peacekeeping mission.

 

[OldSolduer]

Of course the mission won't be "peaceful" at all times. Especially since the MINUSMA mission is one of the most dangerous UN peace operations. It is however, considered a UN peacekeeping mission.

UNPROFOR in Croatia 1993 was one of those missions. We’re celebrating it in early September.


*edit - Mod fixed quote

 

[MilEME09]

"The Canadian peacekeeping mission in Mali has started". Statements like that is why the Cdn public are ill informed.

Think the word of the day here is propaganda, think the modern name is alternative facts and fake news

 

[CBH99]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZD55yLzmU


Not a bad little video for those lurkers & newbies here on the forums who frequently ask about kit.  Just thought I'd post it for posting sake

 

[dimsum]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZD55yLzmU


Not a bad little video for those lurkers & newbies here on the forums who frequently ask about kit.  Just thought I'd post it for posting sake

He was very well-spoken.  Is this part of a series?

 

[RubberTree]

He was very well-spoken.  Is this part of a series?

It is part of a series. You can find the intro video and 1 other on the CAF Operations Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/CAFOperations/

RT

 

[MarkOttawa]

One year and done for MINUSMA:

Defence minister confirms Mali mission will not be extended
Promise to UN to head year-long mission has been fulfilled, Harjit Sajjan tells CBC's The House

...The Canadian Press reported this week that the UN has quietly asked Canada about extending its role.

"The discussions I've had with other UN security generals has not led to that," Sajjan said."We've said this for a year. We wanted to offer up support for what the UN wanted to do. One big ask they had was the concept of smart pledges. Nations come, take a yearly responsibility. We have done that."

The minister added that there will be a transition period before Canada leaves Mali, much like the one that occurred when the German-Belgian helicopter mission in Mali was winding down and Canadian personnel were arriving last year.

Although an official announcement has not been made, The Canadian Press is reporting that Romania is expected to take over from Canada, but not until October or November — months after the Canadians have left.

"The UN is on track to be able to find a replacement," Sajjan said. "We will work with whoever steps up."..
https://www.cbc.ca/news/SOMNIA-1.4909120

What a half-hearted, faint-hearted effort. From Prof. Steve Saideman:

Extending in Mali: Why the Hell Not?
...
Because leaving on time here is not as bad as leaving Afghanistan early, but it has a similar effect: burning the political capital that was gained via sending the troops in the first place.  Maybe not all of it, but some of it.  The UN officials who begged Canada to replace the Germans are now scrambling to figure out what happens after Canada leaves--so they aren't happy.  The Germans and other Europeans who felt that Canada was doing them a favor will be unhappy since Canada can't just do a wee bit more, or as I always put it, the least Canada can do.  The Romanians will not be thrilled because they may end up getting pressed to show up earlier, which means more money and more risk.  Is the campaign to get a UN seat over, with Canada declaring no mas?  Of course, folks will say that this is not about a UN seat.... sure, sure.  But not extending for a few months certainly does not help the campaign, whether Canadian officials have or have not recognized that they aren't winning it.

Of course, this fits into a larger pattern of the Trudeau government--dithering and delaying.  It took a long time for Canada to decide to do this mission, just as I argued here that Canada took longer than it should to decide to send troops to Latvia and then longer than I would have liked to actually send them.  For a government that started with a cabinet retreat focusing on deliverology, it does not deliver that great...
https://saideman.blogspot.com/2018/11/extending-in-mali-why-hell-not.html

And CGAI "Policy Paper" by Prof. Chris W. J. Roberts:

Op PRESENCE – Mali: Continuity Over Change in Canada’s “Return to Peacekeeping” in Africa
...
Executive Summary

Nearly 20 years since its last significant contribution to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping in Africa, Canada deployed an aviation task force to Mali in July 2018 to support MINUSMA for one year. This carefully selected tasking represents continuity in the types of capabilities Canada deploys to UN operations in Africa, stretching back to Suez and the Congo (i.e., mostly enablers, not combat arms). Concurrent debates about whether MINUSMA represents peacekeeping or war-fighting are unhelpful: peacekeeping has not been wholly synonymous with Suez and Cyprus-type missions since Congo in 1960-1964, and particularly not since the end of the Cold War. Many Canadians (politicians and public alike) are distracted by a number of myths around peacekeeping and Africa’s supposed marginality to Canadian security and prosperity. These myths draw attention away from important debates which still need to be held about Canada’s role in multilateral peace support operations and how best to ameliorate African regional security challenges that have direct and indirect consequences for Canada and world order...
Conclusion: Is Mali a War Zone or a Peacekeeping Mission?

MINUSMA is what contemporary peacekeeping looks like. It co-ordinates 15,000 troops and police from over 50 countries operating across a sparsely populated region about the size of Alberta that faces sporadic, intense, but highly localized violence. Most of that violence is directed at civilians, FAMa and local militias, and occasionally the French and G5 counter-terrorism operations,62 not blue helmets. Why, then, has MINUSMA suffered so many fatalities? Most have occurred due to the lack of appropriate equipment used by the widely dispersed African contingents: 51 Chadians have been killed in the north, mostly when their convoys were hit by IEDs or ambushes. At least a third of MINUSMA fatalities were not due to malicious acts, but to training accidents and crashes. Canada’s Task Force Mali will provide highly proficient medevac and tactical airlift to support the ground units operating in Sector East. This is what contemporary peacekeeping looks like in a dynamic internal political conflict with regional spillover, including links to Sahelian al-Qaida and Islamic State affiliates.

Canada should neither always say no to peacekeeping missions in Africa nor commit to peacekeeping missions just to meet domestic political or international expectations. Either stance puts Canada at the whims of allied interests and strategies rather than well-defined Canadian ones. But history tells us that for all sorts of reasons Canada is persistently pushed and prodded to participate across the spectrum of military operations on the continent. Responses, then, should be based on Canadian assessments of event dynamics and possible solutions. Canada cannot assume allies (including France and the U.S.) always pursue the best course of action in Africa, through the UN or elsewhere. The new Mali mission illustrates more of the “just enough” mentality to CAF deployments in support of international peace and security. After political promises at home and increasing pressures and frustrations expressed by allies, the government finally accepts a technically demanding but comparatively low-risk task (where CAF will no doubt excel); limits that commitment in terms of personnel, materiel and time; and crosses its fingers that everyone comes home safely just before the next election. This approach may be politically predictable in Canada, but it is not inevitable. Three things need to happen to break past patterns. First, Canadians and CAF members need their government to admit the realities of contemporary UN peacekeeping as encompassing the entire range of military operations, not as an alternative to military operations [emphasis added]. Second, senior policy-makers need to develop a convincing strategic rationale for why “forward security” deployments in Africa make sense for Canadian national interests. A realistic appraisal of possible implications of African security crises (from terrorism and mass migration to increasing great-power competition) for Canada does not have to rely on humanitarian impulses to draw the connections. And third, Canada’s chance to improve UN peacekeeping as a tool in support of Canadian national security and prosperity interests cannot occur without Canadians at the table. That does not mean jumping into every mission, but it does require deeper engagement with specific conflicts, illustrating that Canada is a serious stakeholder and not just a virtue signaller [emphasis added]...
https://www.cgai.ca/op_presence_mali_continuity_over_change_in_canadas_return_to_peacekeeping_in_africa

Mark
Ottawa

 

[blacktriangle]

Not surprised, but also not sad to see this happen. That place isn't worth a single Canadian life.

 

[MarkOttawa]

This is embarrassing:

El Salvador deploys second aviation unit to Mali

An El Salvadorian MD 500E is seen being unloaded from an Il-at Gao. (MINUSMA)

Three Salvadoran Air Force (FAS) MD 500E armed reconnaissance helicopters have arrived in Gao, Mali, to support the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

MINUSMA announced that the helicopters arrived on 11 December and released photographs of them being unloaded from an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft with support from the Canadian military contingent at the base. The 50 personnel of the new unit, known as Gavilan I by the FAS, arrived at Gao on a chartered aircraft on the same day.

MINUSMA said the MD 500s will carry out surveillance and reconnaissance duties by day and night. The Salvadoran air crews are equipped with night-vision goggles (NVGs) and trained in tactical night flying.

Gavilan I fills the void left by the withdrawal of four German Airbus Tiger attack helicopters earlier this year. Canada has several armed CH-146 Griffon (Bell 412) helicopters currently based in Gao, but these are used mainly to provide escort to the Canadian CH-147 Chinooks deployed in Mali [emphasis added].

Gavilan I is the third Salvadoran unit to be assigned to MINUSMA and joins Torogoz IV, another helicopter unit that has been flying three M D500Es from Timbuktu since 2015, as well as a ground-based airfield support unit also located there.

The deployment of Gavilan I increases El Salvador's troop strength under MINUSMA to over 200.

Jane's understands that the FAS's MD 500E fleet comprises just nine aircraft, meaning two thirds of it are now in Mali. The deployment makes El Salvador the most important aircraft contributor to UN missions in Latin America, ahead of Uruguay, which has two Bell 212 flying in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
https://www.janes.com/article/85273/el-salvador-deploys-second-aviation-unit-to-mali?from_rss=1

Not even a CC-177 for the delivery.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[dimsum]

This is embarrassing:

Not even a CC-177 for the delivery.

Mark
Ottawa

I'm not sure why that's specifically embarrassing for us.  Happy to be corrected, but we didn't step up to provide transport into theatre for that mission, right?

We have 5 C-17s, and at least one (or two?) would be in maintenance at all times.  Between domestic duties, Latvia, Ukraine, Mali, Iraq, and other places, the C-17 fleet is stretched thin like all others.  The transport guys are being flown off their feet and there are regulatory limits on the amount of hours they can fly (and consequently maintenance requirements for the airplane).