UN Troops Assist Malian Government In Fighting Rebels

GAO, MALI - MARCH 07: Children watch soldiers of the Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces, after leaving a weekly cattle market on the outskirts of Gao on March 7, 2017 in Gao, Mali. The soldiers of the Bundeswehr try to gather information on prices of meat and movement around the city, as well as possible suspects among farmers, as each week locals and Touareg nomads gather at the market to trade their cattle including Camels, Cows, Sheep and clothing. U.N.-led MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission) troops are assisting the Malian government in its struggle against rebels that include a Tuareg movement (MNLA) and several Islamic armed groups, among them Al-Qaeda, in the north of Mali. Rebels have conducted a series of terror attacks to destabilize the current government in recent years. The Bundeswehr has committed helicopters and 750 soldiers to the MINUSMA mission as well as 147 soldiers to the EUTM mission (European Trainings Mission Mali) to train government troops. In mid-April the Bundeswehr is to deploy four «Tiger«combat helicopter. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)