The ECOWAS Commission has appointed Mr Subair Kamar, a Deputy Police Commissioner, to take charge of the African-led International Assistance Mission to Mali (AFISMA).

This is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by CSP Frank Mba, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer.

The statement said the appointment followed the recommendation of the Inspector-General of Police, and that until his appointment, Kamar was in the Department of Training at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

It said that Kamar had served in various strategic positions in Nigeria and in the United Nations.

The statement said the Commissioner distinguished himself in the UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in the Republic of Macedonia and the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).

It said that Kamar would assume duty at the end of February. In a related development, the Inspector-General of Police has authorised the deployment of seven Individual Police Officers (IPO) and One Formed Police Unit (FPU) comprising of 140 personnel to Mali in support of the AFISMA operation.

The operation is aimed at restoring peace and security to the Sahelian country.

The statement said the FPU would be self-sustaining and self-supportive and would be made up of highly trained and seasoned police personnel skilled in counter-terrorism and crime detection techniques.

It said the unit would have its own trained engineers and medical support team.

"It is expected that the peacekeepers would support the capacity development of the Malian law enforcement agencies.

"The deployment is in fulfilment of the pledge of the Federal Government to continue to work with relevant development partners at tackling terrorism both at national and international levels," the statement said.

Nigeria Police currently have 800 international peace keepers in several countries.

They included Liberia, Haiti, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, East Timor, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea Bissau.