First Maltese contribution to EU ground military operation

A contingent of 12 Armed Forces of Malta soldiers will leave today to take part in the EU's anti-piracy sea patrols off the Somali coast on board a Dutch military ship.

The soldiers will serve for four months alongside Dutch Royal Marines on board the amphibious assault ship Johan de Witt, which leaves port tomorrow, in the first foreign deployment of soldiers on the ground in an EU military operation.

AFM deputy commander Col. David Attard said the soldiers would be answerable to their Maltese superiors.

"There will be a national contingent commander on the ship in contact with headquarters and the ship's captain. Deployment is based on policies and aims determined and approved by the AFM," Col. Attard said.

The mission, named EU Naval Force Somalia - Operation Atalanta, has a mandate from the UN to prevent and repress acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast.

Malta's participation in the mission was in the national interest, Col. Attard said, insisting freedom of the sea lanes was critical to any nation.

"Soldiers will be serving the national interest given that Malta has one of the biggest merchant shipping registers and some Maltese-flagged ships have already been targeted by pirates," he said.

Soldiers would have to operate with restraint, Col. Attard added, since it was not a classic war zone and pirates were armed civilians.

The AFM has set up a support network for relatives of the 12 soldiers that includes the army chaplain and army doctor.

Three more soldiers will be deployed in a month's time to Uganda where they will take part in another EU mission to train the Somali army.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com