The Armed Forces of Mali (Fama) has taken delivery of 24 Storm armoured personnel carriers (APCs), which were donated by Qatar.
According to the Qatari Ministry of Defence (MoD), the armoured vehicles were delivered to Mali on board Boeing C-17 transport aircraft of the Amiri Air Force’s Air Transport Wing.
The Storm APCs will be deployed by the Armed Forces of Mali for security operations in areas with threats such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines.
Qatar foreign ministry was quoted by Reuters as saying that the vehicles will be used to ‘combat terrorism and establish security not only in the Republic of Mali but also in the African Sahel countries known as the G5’.
The G5 Sahel countries are Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger.
The cooperation between Qatar and Mali will also see the delivery of training, equipment units and exchanges between the militaries of both countries in the future.
This will help combat terrorism and support the peace process and stability in the country.
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will provide around $150m in aid to support the G5 Sahel force.
Formed on 16 February 2014, G5S is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development policies and security matters in West Africa.
Manufactured by Qatari company Stark Motors, Storm APCs are designed based on a Toyota Land Cruiser 79-series chassis and feature a 195-horsepower Toyota 4.5l V8 turbo diesel engine.
