Royal Anglian soldiers based at Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore deploy to Mali for UN peacekeeping mission

More than 70 Rutland-based soldiers have deployed to Mali as part of the United Nation’s peacekeeping mission.

Normally based at Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore, the Royal Anglian soldiers have trained hard for their mission.

Commanding officer Lt Col Will Meddings said: “This deployment puts British soldiers back on the world stage and supporting the United Nations again just as the British Army, and this very Battalion, did in the 1990s in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The guys are rightly excited to be heading overseas.”

The UN Mission in Mali is made up of over 14,000 peacekeepers from 56 countries and supports peace efforts as well as protecting civilians and promoting human rights.

The main body of troops arrived on December 2 from RAF Brize Norton and will be based in the new Camp Bagnold, named after Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, the desert explorer and first commanding officer of the British Army’s Long Range Desert Group.

The Sahel is one of Africa’s poorest and most unstable regions.