Operation AUGURAL

African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS)

Canada is contributing $198 million in humanitarian aid and support to help the African Union (AU ) resolve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Together with Foreign Affairs Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency, the Canadian Forces are playing a key role in providing this support to the AU.

The CF has been supporting Canada's efforts to help with the situation in Sudan since September 2004. The Canadian Forces has donated $1.4 million worth of personal equipment, such as helmets, protective vests, and maps. Furthermore, the Canadian Forces is also providing a number of military advisors and expert planners to assist the AU in planning and logistics.

The Canadian Forces is loaning 100 GRIZZLY general-purpose armoured vehicles and five HUSKY armoured recovery vehicles to assist the AU in moving its troops quickly and safely. Senegal, Rwanda and Nigeria will receive these vehicles. The six-wheeled GRIZZLIES and HUSKIES are well suited for this mission and the specific terrain in Darfur as they can effectively transport and protect a section of soldiers. The HUSKIES will be able to transport maintenance crews and retrieve vehicles that may require repair while away from their home base.

In order to facilitate the loan of the 105 armoured vehicles, the Canadian Forces established an Intermediate Staging Base and Training Centre (ISBTC) in Dakar, Senegal. The role of the ISBTC was to provide training to AU soldiers on all aspects of operating the armoured vehicles.

Training was successfully completed in late September, with more than 150 AU soldiers from Senegal, Nigeria and Rwanda having been trained on the vehicles. A small detachment of CF personnel is currently deployed to Senegal to maintain the vehicles, pending their transfer to the AU.