Half-way through the mission in Bangui

Spanish ''Lince'' vehicle during a patrol (Photo: COMGEBAL)

The task of protecting, escorting and supporting the multinational military advisory teams, as well as route reconnaissance and movement planning, have been the main activities of the Spanish soldiers of the Balearic Islands General Command (COMGEBAL, by its Spanish acronym) in the Central African Republic, where they are part of the European Union Military Advisory Mission.

The Spanish contingent is made up of nearly twenty soldiers who arrived in Bangui, the country’s capital, back in May. They are distributed into a twelve-member escort and support team, a five-member support group and two more soldiers stationed at mission HQ providing support to the chief of the contingent.

The current EU mission to CAR was launched just two months after the end of the previous one. It had lasted seven months and contributed to pacifying the country’s capital, and it had also included Spanish Army soldiers – primarily from the Special Operations Command. The purpose of the new mission is to support the authorities of the country and advise them in the reform of the security sector in order to modernise it and render it more effective.

Teams of advisors from several nationalities are in the country to fulfil that mission and they require adequate protection. And among those charged with providing that protection are the soldiers from the Balearic Islands, who will be remaining in the country three more months carrying out the same duties. When their deployment ends they will be relieved by colleagues from COMGEBAL who will be staying for six more months, thus completing the one year period initially set for the mission.