Defence minister Elizabetta Trenta described Italy's military training mission in Niger as "very important" during a visit on Tuesday to troops serving in the African country.
The mission "is very important for Italy, and which, at the request of Niger's government also aims to stem the uncontrolled influx of migrants who head for our country," Trenta stated.
"It is a mission that is perfectly aligned with the national interest," she said.
Teams of male and female military trainers staffing the mission first arrived in September and are helping local security forces strengthen control of Niger's territory and combat human trafficking, in line with government requirements, according to Trenta.
Italian lawmakers in January last year approved the deployment of up to 470 troops in Niger, which are equipped with 130 land vehicles and two aircraft.
Trenta earlier had talks in Niamey with her Nigerien counterpart Kalla Moutari and Niger's president Mahamodou Issoufou that reaffirmed Italy's commitment to the training mission, examined other possible forms of cooperation and discussed the situation in the region, according to an Italian defence ministry statement.
During her one-day visit to Niger, Trenta delivered medical and sanitary items to local authorities worth 167,000 euros. Between 24 April last year and January, Italy donated 60 tonnes of drugs and medial equipment to Niger, which has seen cholera, mumps and meningitis epidemics.
Trenta arrived in Niger from Algeria, where she held talks on Monday with the country's chief of staff of the armed forces Gaid Salah on bilateral and regional defence cooperation. During their meeting, Trenta and Salah voiced support for a United Nations plan to unite chaos-hit Libya and oversee an electoral process there starting in the Spring.
