MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the German minister, Mali is an important transport hub on the routes taken by the refugees that is why the sustainable peace in the African state is also crucial to prevent human trafficking in the region.
"Combat forces are urgently needed in Mali to determine stationing of the terrorist groups and militants in this vast country. At present, the Netherlands is carrying out this duty. The Bundeswehr units will be able to share this burden beginning with spring 2016 via its intelligence," Leyen said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
To date, Germany is engaged in an EU training mission, EUCAP Mali, in the south of Mali with around 150 soldiers.
In the larger UN MINUSMA mission, present in Mali since 2013, Berlin has only seven officers and two junior officers.
Mali has witnessed consistent violent instability following a 2012 military coup, after which separatist tribes seized control over large areas in the northern part of the country. Islamist groups that emerged in Mali in the last decade have recently staged several terrorist attacks in the country.
