TSAMTO, December 7. The Armed Forces of Mali announced the adoption of several dozen new armored vehicles on December 3, designed, as noted, to continue the fight against Islamic terrorism in the country.
According to Shephard, referring to the press release of the Armed Forces of Mali (Forces Armees Maliennes) on Facebook, the batch of armored vehicles (armored personnel carriers and tactical combat vehicles) and auxiliary military equipment (trucks and ambulances) is sufficient to equip 16 companies or four combined arms combat groups.
The number and type of armored vehicles received are not specified in the message, however, based on the images accompanying the press release, it is assumed that the Armed Forces of Mali delivered Kia KM450 4x4 tactical armored vehicles (Republic of Korea), Dongfeng EQ2050 Mengshi (China), BRDM-2 (Russia), BTR-70 8x8 armored personnel carriers (Russia), MRAP OTT Technologies M36 "Puma" class armored vehicles (South Africa).
Also in the picture there is an armored personnel carrier with a 6x6 wheel formula, similar to the new Chinese MRAP VN2C class armored vehicle, which makes Mali the first known customer of this export version of the WZ551 amphibious armored personnel carrier with mine protection manufactured by NORINCO Corporation.
