China Offers To Send Peacekeepers to Mali as Part of UN Peacekeeping Force

More than 500 Chinese peacekeepers and engineers could be sent

China has offered soldiers to the new UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, UN officials say.

Talks are underway, and more than 500 Chinese peacekeepers and engineers could potentially take part in the mission, according to UN officials.

Mali's government was deposed in a coup in 2012, and Islamist rebels controlled the north of the country until French troops ousted them in January.