France disagrees with US evaluation of African role in Mali

While agreeing that African troops deployed to Mali to fight Islamist rebels were lacking in equipment, France disagreed with a Pentagon assessment published Thursday that alleged the African forces were "totally useless." A Foreign Ministry statement here said that the West African troops and troops from Chad had deployed rapidly once the conflict began in January and "in several weeks an African force...was 6,300 strong" in that country. The French statement noted that this African force had fought alongside Malian and French troops and "took an active part in operations against terrorist groups present in the north of Mali and is currently pursuing its deployment in the regions liberated, where they are contributing to improving security." The US several years ago had sent training missions to the region and spent an estimated USD 600 million in a broad area from Morocco to the Sahel, but renounced the mission as a failure. "The troops from The International Support Mission in Mali, like the forces from Chad, paid a heavy human price for their commitment, which requires great respect," the Foreign Ministry said. The African force is expected to be partially integrated into an 11,000-man UN force for Mali in the coming months and France, Europe and the UN and other contributors are helping make up for the shortages in equipment for this force. "Thanks to this aid, the capacity of the (force) should rapidly grow," Paris said, noting it would be a key factor in the stabilisation of Mali in the future.