Physical Wellness

Germany and France Plan To Use Military Transport Planes To Help Fight Ebola

By Kamal Nayan | Update Date: Sep 20, 2014 04:13 PM EDT

Germany and France plan to use military transport planes to West Africa to help fight Ebola, said Chancellor Angela Merkel and military officials, on Friday.

"Germany will establish airlifts from Dakar (Senegal) from where deliveries can be made to all three countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea," said Merkel in a press release. 

She added that Berlin would also supply a mobile clinic and could train medical personnel. 

The execution of the plan is still in discussion, she said, adding that "it's currently not a question of money, but of capacity and logistics".

A Bundeswehr spokesman told AFP that Germany, in cooperation with France, plans to send up to 100 troops and four Transall C-160 planes to a base in Dakar, or alternatively Bamako, Mali.

"Germany and France have agreed to establish a joint airlift," he said, following a Paris meeting of defence ministers Ursula von der Leyen of Germany and France's Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"The objective is to build a logistics chain from Germany," he said, explaining that the airlift could move about 100 tonnes of medical and aid supplies per week.

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