NIGERIA: Nigeria's army marks armed forces remembrance day as it prepares to send troops to Mali

Record ID: 235905

  • Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria's army marks armed forces remembrance day as it prepares to send troops to Mali
  • Date: 15th January 2013
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (JANUARY 15, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY ON THE PARADE GROUND NIGERIAN AND ARMED FORCES FLAGS FLYING VARIOUS OF MARCH PARADE BY THE NIGERIAN ARMY SIGN READING REMEMBRANCE ARCADE VARIOUS OF GUN SALUTE BY MEMBERS OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE LAYING A WREATH WREATH ON CENOTAPH VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE RELEASING THE DOVES WITH MEMBERS OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY LOOKING ON
  • Embargoed: 30th January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6RWF2UU62WKW615LZ65EQP7Q2
  • Story Text: Nigeria will lead an African troop deployment in Mali to help dislodge an Islamist alliance of insurgents in Mali's north which western and regional powers fear could be used as a launch pad for international attacks.
    Nigeria was marking annual Armed Forces Day on Tuesday (January 15), also known as Remembrance Day, as plans to deploy the African troops were gathering pace and amid concerns that delays could endanger a wider mission to dislodge al Qaeda and its allies from Mali.
    France has already poured hundreds of troops into Mali and carried out days of air strikes since Friday in a vast desert area seized last year by an Islamist alliance that combines al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM with Mali's home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine rebel groups.
    West African defence chiefs were to meet in Bamako on Tuesday to approve plans to speed up the deployment of 3,300 regional troops foreseen in a U.N.-backed intervention plan to be led by Africans.
    Speaking from a French military base in Abu Dhabi at the start of a day-long visit to the United Arab Emirates, President Francois Hollande said French forces in Mali had carried out further strikes overnight "which hit their targets."
    He saw the African troop deployment taking "a good week".
    France plans to field a total 2,500 soldiers in its former colony to bolster the Malian army and work with the intervention force provided by the ECOWAS grouping of West African states.
    ECOWAS mission head in Bamako Aboudou Toure Cheaka said the West African troops would be on the ground in a week. Their immediate mission would be to help stop the rebel advance while preparations for a full intervention plan continued.
    The original timetable for the 3,300-strong U.N.-sanctioned African force - backed by western logistics, money and intelligence services - did not initially foresee full deployment before September due to logistical constraints.
    Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Guinea have all offered troops. But regional powerhouse Nigeria, which is due to lead the mission, has cautioned that even if some troops arrive in Mali soon, training will take more time.
    The plan is being fast-tracked after a plea for help by Mali's government after mobile columns of Islamist fighters last week threatened the central garrison towns of Mopti and Sevare, with its key airport.
    Nigeria's Armed Forces day was formerly marked on 11 November of every year to coincide with the Remembrance Day (Poppy Day) for the World War 2 veterans in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
    It was later changed to 15th January of every year in commemoration of the surrender of Biafran troops to the Federal troops on 15th January 1970, signalling the end of the Nigerian Civil War that sought to tear apart the unity of Nigeria.
    The remembrance day ceremony was held at the Remembrance Arcade, Tafawa Balewa Square in Nigeria's commercial city, Lagos as well as other states in the country.
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