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ECOWAS agrees on 3,300-strong force for Mali
A West African summit on Sunday agreed on a military force of 3,300 troops with a one-year mandate to wrest control of northern Mali from Islamist extremists, Ivory Coast’s president said.
“We foresee 3,300 soldiers for a timeframe of one year,” Alassane Ouattara told journalists after the summit of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
The troops would come primarily from ECOWAS nations, but possibly from countries outside the bloc as well, he said.
Ouattara said he hoped UN Security Council approval could come in late November or early December, which would allow the force to be put in place days afterward. The plan is to be transferred to the UN through the African Union.
“We have countries that are offering battalions, others companies,” he said.
ECOWAS countries he named were Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo.
From outside of ECOWAS, “Chad could also participate. We have had contacts with other countries: Mauritania, South Africa.”
