Mali: European military mission ends its mission in the country

The European Union military mission to contribute to the training of the Malian armed forces announced on Friday the official end of its 11-year presence in the country.

The mission consists of about 700 troops from some 20 European countries, before its number was drastically reduced due to diplomatic tensions between Mali and some Western partners.

The European Union military mission wrote on that it had trained 20,000 Malian soldiers throughout its presence in the country, which began in 2013, when northern Mali was suffering from a serious threat from armed groups.

Two members of the mission have been killed since 2013, one Portuguese killed in an attack on a camp in Bamako in 2017, and a Spaniard killed in 2018 near the town of Sévari.