Romania will take over Mali peacekeeping after Canada: official

Romania will take over from Canada after its peacekeeping mission in Mali ends next summer, Canada and Romania jointly announced Thursday.

"Romania will supply transport helicopters to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), after the end of the Canadian deployment in Gao in 2019," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said a statement.

The Canadian mission, which started in July 2018 as part of MINUSMA, is due to end in July of this year.

Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan told reporters in Ottawa that troops would return home on schedule.

Romania has "made a commitment to replace us," he said. "They're working very hard right now to make sure that they have all their capabilities go through the United Nations process just like we did to meet those timelines."

Freeland said the handover was "an example of the continuing close cooperation among NATO allies to deliver critical capabilities to the UN."

The Canadian force includes some 250 personnel and eight helicopters: three Chinook helicopters (two in service and one spare) for medical evacuations and transportation, and five Griffons (four in service and one to serve as an armed escort).

Deployed in 2013, after northern Mali fell to jihadists linked to al-Qaeda, the UN peacekeeping mission has grown to include nearly 14,000 military and police.

It is the deadliest of all current UN peacekeeping operations, with nearly 180 peacekeepers killed -- more than half of all peacekeeping casualties in the world -- in the last five years.