13th EUTM Mali (European Union Training Mission)

After six months of hard work deployed in Mali in the framework of the EU Training Mission in the country, on 3rd December 2018, ‘12th EUTM Mali’ contingent, mainly formed by personnel from the 6th Airborne Brigade ‘Almogávares, has finished its mission and comes back to Spain to make way to the new contingent. The 7th Infantry Brigade ‘Galicia’ (BRILAT) contribute the core of the Force Protection Tactical Group, in which the   ‘Tercio de Armada’ also participates, and so does a company from the Czech Republic for the first time.

Apart from the Tactical Group ‘Zamora’, substitutions have been made in the Traning Unit, the National Support Element and the Stabilisation Cell.

Under the EU flag, this new contingent will keep putting all its effort in helping, by means of military training and advising, the Mali Armed Forces to take on the safety and defence tasks of their country.

Spain has been participating in the ‘EUTM-Malí’EU mission since April 2013. Its first contingent was made up of 50 people. Later, after the agreement form the Council of Ministers on 7th June that year, the number of personnel increased to 110, due to the greater Spanish involvement in training.

The Spanish contingent in Mali is distributed between the towns of Bamako–home of the general headquarters of the mission–and Koulikoro–where the core of the personnel devoted to train the Mali soldiers and protect forces is located. However, advising activities take place in other áreas.