Last soldiers from Mali mission on their way to Germany

Defense - Last soldiers from Mali mission on their way to Germany

Following the end of the UN mission in Mali, West Africa, the last German soldiers are on their way to Germany. Two A400M military transporters and an Airbus A330MRTT took off from the Senegalese capital Dakar, as explained to the German Press Agency in Berlin. The men and women of the Bundeswehr are due to land at Wunstorf Air Base in Lower Saxony at around 3.00 pm.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) will receive the soldiers, who were involved in the UN peacekeeping mission Minusma, there. A so-called returnee roll call is planned to "honor their achievements", the 62nd Air Force Wing in Wunstorf had announced.

The Bundeswehr has ended its UN mission in Mali after more than a decade. The last 142 soldiers were flown out on Tuesday and made a stopover in Dakar. Mali's military government had demanded the withdrawal of all 12,000 UN peacekeepers in June and had previously increased cooperation with Russia. Following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, this marked the end of the Bundeswehr's second major deployment outside Europe.

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1. The federal armed forces of Germany, consisting of both men and women, completed their UN peacekeeping mission in Mali after more than a decade.
2. Boris Pistorius, the Defense Minister of Germany, will welcome the returning soldiers from the UN mission Minusma at Wunstorf Air Base in Lower Saxony.
3. The last German soldiers, who were part of the UN mission in Mali, are currently traveling back to Germany aboard two A400M military transporters and an Airbus A330MRTT.
4. Following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the UN mission in Mali marks the end of the Bundeswehr's second major deployment outside Europe.
5. The 62nd Air Force Wing in Wunstorf announced a so-called returnee roll call to honor the achievements of the outgoing German soldiers.
6. The German Press Agency reported the departure of the German soldiers from Dakar, which is the Senegalese capital, after making a stopover during their journey back to Germany.
7. Mali's military government had previously demanded the withdrawal of all 12,000 UN peacekeepers and increased cooperation with Russia, which contributed to the mission's conclusion.

Source: www.stern.de