Brussels, 03/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - Brigadier General Antonio Maggi is to be the next mission commander for the EU training mission in Somalia (EUTM Somalia). His appointment by the EU's Political and Security Committee was made on Tuesday 3 February. Maggi, from Italy, will take up his duties on 8 March and will replace General Massimo Mingiardi, who has led the mission since December 2013.
Initially in charge of training Somali recruits on the territory of Uganda, EUTM Somalia has been fully based in Mogadishu since January 2014. Its mandate is to provide strategic and political advice to the Somali ministry of defence and to the head of defence forces on development of the security sector. EUTM Somalia also provides advice on military training in order to lay the foundations for a Somali military training system. Since its launch in April 2010, EUTM Somalia has helped train over 4,000 soldiers in the national army. (AN)