The Defence Forces have deployed a team of specialists to west Africa to help train troops from other countries in countering improvised explosive devices and mine awareness.
The deployment is being made under a commitment given by the Government a year ago to support the United Nations mine action service, UNMAS.
The Irish will train and educate other troop contributing countries based in Burkina Faso, which is in a region being destabilised by threats from extremist factions.
In a bid to confront the dangers, the five main regional powers, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, requested support from the wider international community to establish a 55,000-strong force that will serve initially in strife-torn Mali and tackle the threats from their base there.
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Source: Independent.ie