Nigeria commits troops for African Union intervention force in Mali

The head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Kadre Desire Ouedraogo has thanked the Nigerian forces for their commitment to supporting a pending intervention mission in Mali.

Nigeria’s forces have contributed to peace missions at various times in the past two decades to Liberia and Guinea Bissau.

ECOWAS has presented the U.N. Security Council plans for a 3,000-member intervention force to ensure the political stability and territorial integrity of Mali. Foreign fighters and Islamic rebels, some of which are aligned with al-Qaeda, claimed authority for northern Mali following a series of political disturbances in early 2012. The United Nations approved the Mali mission last month, however the ECOWAS Council of Ministers said it was “disturbed” by what it said was the lack of urgency regarding the deployment of African forces to Mali.