Turning Mali’s Army Into A Fighting Force -- BBC
Irish and British troops have joined an EU mission: 31 soldiers from the Royal Marines, 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish Defence Forces are training an initial group of some 800 Malian troops.
The project aims to create four new battalions capable of defending the West African country.
In January, France sent 4,000 troops to Mali after the Islamist fighters, who nine months before had taken over the vast northern desert region, began to take over central towns - threatening the capital, Bamako, in the south.
Their advance was helped by the fact that members of the divided and demoralised Malian army took off their uniforms and fled their positions.
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Update #1: British soldiers training Mali troops -- BBC
Update #2: US troops deployed in Mali -- Defence Web
My Comment:This is not going to be an easy deployment .... but someone has to start training these soldiers.