Mauritania Acquires Turkish-made Cobra APCs

GABORONE, Botswana — The Mauritanian army has acquired at least 12 Turkish-made Cobra armored personnel carriers (APC) for use by its battalion assigned to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Central Africa.

Video footage of at least 12 Cobra APCs, painted in white and bearing UN markings, was aired by the country's state-owned television channel when President Mohammed Ould Abdel Azziz inspected a pre-deployment parade that marked the send-off ceremony of the brigade at an airport in the capital Nouakchott.

According to expert analysis of the images, the APCs are armed with 12.7mm w-85 heavy and PK-pattern 7.62mm machine guns. In a related development, the Cameroonian army has taken delivery of 12 Ratel-20 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) for use in counterinsurgency operations by the elite Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR).

The first deliveries were made in December and the IFVs have already been deployed in operations against Nigerian Islamist insurgent group in the north of the country. The vehicles will be used for a wide range of purposes, which include force protection, anti-improvised explosive device (IED) operations and mine detection.

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