Romania has announced that its Air Force will send a contingent of IAR 330L Puma helicopters to Mali to support the United Nations’ MINUSMA mission there later this year. The copters will replace the Canadian Air Task Force currently providing helicopters.
The helicopters will be used for search and rescue, transport and reconnaissance and will not engage in combat operations. Four Pumas will be allocated to the Mali mission after being upgraded by IAR Ghimbav to handle the tough operational conditions in Mali, which include extreme heat and dust.
120 personnel will be deployed from late August, although the air unit will only become operational on 15 October. The mission will comprise of two six month rotations for a total of a year, according to the Romanian Ministry of Defence.
The deployment comes as a welcome move seeing as Mali has been battling jihadist and comes as over 120 people were killed by fighters dressed as hunters in Ogossagou in the Mopti region. The attackers targeted members of the Fulani ethnic community who are accused of having ties to jihadists.
