EUTM has started training Malian gendarmes in Koulikoro
(B2) The formation of the 7th GTIA (combined arms tactical group) ended at the Koulikoro training camp. A somewhat special training since, for the first time, a unit of the Malian Gendarmerie took part. The objective was to make gendarmes “combatants learn to master basic acts (moving, posting, etc.) by being initially integrated into a group and then into a platoon/section”, we explain to EUTM Mali, the European training mission for the Malian armed forces.
Like its Spanish counterparts (Servicio Marítimo Guardia Civil) or French, the Malian Gendarmerie has more policing than military functions. Attached to the Ministry of National Security, the gendarmes (1) however have responsibilities in the defense of the Malian territory. They are, for example, responsible for controlling the country's border crossing points. For its main police missions, the Malian Gendarmerie is usually supported by the EUCAP Sahel mission in Mali, which provides it with an advisory and training structure (read: Europe will train Malian police and gendarmes).
(LH)
(1) The gendarmes usually have a better reputation in Mali than their police colleagues, whose population suspects at each control of wanting to collect a tithe (NGV)
