Deemed as the most dangerous UN mission in the world, members of the Army Ranger Wing, the special forces arm of the Irish Defense Forces, will depart in the days ahead on a deployment to Mali.
Minister of State at the Department of Defence Paul Kehoe, who met the Army Ranger wing personnel on Friday ahead of their departure, said the team was a highly trained specialist force well equipped to operate in hostile environments such as Mali.
Informed sources said they would deploy as part of a larger German-led intelligence surveillance reconnaissance company, would not operate in isolation and would benefit from all the protections and medical support in place for the larger company.