On November 9, the general of the army corps Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, officer at the top of the operational command of interforce forces (COVI), visited the MISIN mission in Niger.
The mission has been operating since 2018 with the aim of training local security and defense forces to improve the process of developing and strengthening skills and capabilities in order to make them effective in maintaining an acceptable security condition, and able to counter illegal activities related to the trafficking of human beings and arms as well as for jihadist terrorism.
MISIN is part of what is established by the Ministry of Defense guideline regarding the strategy for strengthening the presence in the Sahel aimed at stabilizing sub-Saharan countries. The training and education activities conducted by the military of the Italian contingent are considered fundamental by the Nigerien authorities especially in the fight against Islamic terrorism.
The COVI commander presided over the flag-raising ceremony together with the current commander of MISIN, gen. b. Liberato Amadio, and immediately afterwards gave a speech in which he underlined the strategic importance of the Sahelian area for Italy, noting that the crisis resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine inevitably brings negative effects on the stability and security of the Sahel.
Subsequently, the senior officer moved to Basra, at the base of the Garde Nationale du Niger (GNN) where he saw the Military Training Team (MTT) of the carabinieri and attended an exercise conducted by the Special Operation Task Group (SOTG) of the Italian army.
The MTT, staffed and commanded by personnel from 2a Carabinieri mobile brigade1, carries out, among others, courses for "Operational Support Teams (SOS)", "Public Order" and "Operational Intervention Techniques" in favor of the National Gendarmerie (GN) and the Niger National Guard (GNN).
The "SOS" course is aimed at training police force teams in order to acquire the technical and tactical skills necessary to conduct "first aid" in high-risk situations, such as the irruption and neutralization of armed subjects (terrorists) in urban contexts characterized by the presence of civilians or hostages, as a premise or in support of the use of special intervention units. The characteristics of the intervention for the neutralization of hostile subjects are speed, flexibility, ability and precision of fire.
The "Techniques of Operational Intervention" (TIO) course is aimed at improving the technical-tactical skills of the personnel in institutional activities such as: the organization of a checkpoint and checkpoint, the development of personal and local searches techniques, stopping and learning first aid and self-medication techniques (Combat Life Support).
The training activity in the field of public order consisted of a complex exercise in which about fifty students applied the techniques and operating procedures acquired during the course, necessary to manage potential riots and unrest at events or demonstrations. Specifically, they faced and rejected a crowd of demonstrators by implementing practices such as "short charges" of lightening to ward off the rioters and the so-called "tortoise" to protect themselves from the mass throwing of objects. In addition to this, the instructors also evaluated the gendarmes on the correct techniques for dealing with the "inspection of the barricade" in order to check for any traps and for the arrest of a protester.
Lo Special Operations Task Group (SOTG), formed by departments of the Army Special Forces Command (COMFOSE) and from a unit of the Special Intervention Team (GIS) of the carabinieri conduct courses during which the students assimilate foot and vehicular combat skills, in rural and urban environments.
Finally, the staff of the "Folgore" brigade carries out parachuting courses at the end of which, following the planned airdrops in the drop zones "Niger4", selected soldiers of the Nigerien army, obtains the qualification of military paratrooper.
The MISIN contingent also includes a reconnaissance, command and control team, staffed at the Defense College in Mauritania, specialized CBNR personnel for surveys against chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear threats and military engineers for infrastructural works.
General Figliuolo also met the Italian ambassador in Niamey, Emilia Gatto and the military attaché in Niger.
1 is based in Livorno and is made up of the 1st Carabinieri Parachute Regiment, 7th "Trentino Alto-Adige" Regiment, 13th "Friuli-Venezia-Giulia" Regiment and Special Intervention Group
