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The Canadian Army will send regular troops to Niger in the next few months to help train soldiers there.

Officers recently visited the country to do a tactical reconnaissance.

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A small team of Canadian special forces soldiers is already training Niger’s military personnel.

They will continue that role in the fall and work with Canadian Army staff as they prepare to hand over responsibility for training to the regular forces.

After Christmas, the mission will fall under the purview of the army, Canadian military sources told Postmedia.

It will deal with what is expected to become a larger training mission overseen by the Canadian Joint Operations Command, headquartered in Ottawa

The special forces have been teaching basic military skills, first aid, marksmanship, communications and reconnaissance techniques.

The long-term commitment is part of the push by the Liberal government to play more of a role in Africa as well as contributing to “capacity building.”