6th EUTM-Mali (European Union Training Mission in Mali)

Twenty-six soldiers of the Canary Islands Command (from HQ, the 49th Light Infantry Regiment “Tenerife”, the 94th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment and the 6th Manoeuvre Helicopter Battalion) will be departing from the Los Rodeos Airport on 3 March 2015 to join the EU mission against jihadi terrorism in Mali. Most of them will be stationed at the Koulikoro base, where they will share facilities with the Malian Army’s Joint Military School.

The Spanish contingent has been assigned to train the local armed forces in order to strengthen the Malian government in its fight against the rebel militias and terrorist groups holding sway over the north of the country.

The Spanish contingent will be split into two groups. The first will be posted at around 60 km from the capital, Bamako, at the military base in the town of Koulikoro. According to Infantry Colonel Juan Sevilla, who is in charge of the mission, they will be overseeing the training of new task groups within the Malian army. Among their many duties, they will be teaching the African soldiers how to use artillery pieces and mortars.

The second group, which includes two women, will be training military personnel from the north of the country at the military base in Ségou - the third largest town in the country, 250 km northeast of Bamako. Most of the soldiers who will be trained there are veterans. The EU hopes to encourage the Malian Army to move away from traditional divisions (i.e. infantry, artillery…) and set up joint battalions of around 700 members.

The 26 soldiers from the Canary Islands are only a fraction of the nearly 150 soldiers Spain is contributing to this mission. In addition, 150 more are expected to arrive from Fuerteventura in May to enhance security in the country.

The mission was initially expected to last 15 months starting on 18 February 2013. In October that year it was revised and the results were deemed positive. The EU therefore decided to grant the mission a 24-month extension, until May 2016.

EUTM-Mali is helping the armed forces of that African country to improve their military capabilities by acting on two fronts: On the one hand, advising in the establishment of an efficient chain of command and control for all functions; on the other, overseeing the joint training of the troops and training Malian instructors.