Article content

The Canadian Forces says its personnel completed their first medevac in Mali.

A CH-147 Chinook and CH-146 Griffon helicopter were used in the mission which involved transporting a United Nations soldier so that person could receive medical aid.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Chinook and Griffon used to conduct first Canadian medevac in Mali Back to video

Members of Canada’s Task Force Mali were woken up in the early hours Sept. 11 by a request for medical evacuation north of Gao. At the time of the call, Gao was under severe weather conditions, however, within 20 minutes, visibility had cleared enough for the teams to reach the soldier.

According to the Canadian military “this first successful Canadian MEDEVAC mission illustrates our commitment to peace and stability in the Sahel region.”

Canada announced its intent to deploy an Air Task Force to the UN mission in Mali in March.

Meanwhile, another Canadian commitment made to the UN nine months ago has yet to be met.

Canada had announced it would station a C-130 Hercules aircraft to provide tactical airlift support for the UN’s Regional Support Centre in Entebbe Uganda. At the November 2017 announcement the government noted that “preparations for deployment are currently underway.”

But various sources tell Defence Watch that there have been ongoing problems with following through on this pledge. Those have to do with discussions involving the host country and Canada.