EU launches training for soldiers in Mali

Daredevil European instructors will be helping Malian soldiers to fend off the ongoing insurgency as the first of four Malian battalions is set to start training at the Koulikoro base on April 2.Training is due to last for about over a year, with the EU challenged to \'entirely rebuild\' the Malian army as soon as possible.France is keen to reduce its current 4,000-strong troop presence to 1,000 by the end of the year as it hands over its mission to a regional African force, Reuters informed.Mali has been the target of a series of deadly attacks by insurgents since France launched a military intervention in early January against Al-Qaeda-linked groups that had seized the North of the country.