Takuba. A NATO agency will provide logistics for the Menaka camp
(B2) The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has signed an agreement with France to provide logistical support to Task Force Takuba.
A camp for 500 people
According to the technical arrangement, concluded on June 9 (1), the NSPA will ensure the logistical needs of the Takuba force camp located in Menaka, in eastern Mali. A camp already built (by the French in particular) and which can accommodate 500 people (2). This support covers both food, 'base camp' support (for example laundry or pest control, engineering, infrastructure maintenance, fuel. It also provides for intra-theatre land and air transport. The 'NSPA' staff in charge of coordinating the project is expected on site by the end of the summer.A 'logistics base' will be set up on occasion.
A triple first
This is the first time that an international organization has come to assist the Takuba task force. It is also the first time that France, as " framework nation of a multinational force, appeals for this assistance. That's also " the first time this NATO agency has provided assistance to a non-NATO force we say in Luxembourg, the headquarters of the NSPA. The Takuba Task Force is a multinational force. And in Menaka, it is mainly the Swedes who are present.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
- This agreement was only made public after the NATO summit on 15 June.
- The NSPA does not build the military camp (as mentioned by mistake in an early version), but only provides support and builds a logistics base.
Logistics Support Update June 22