Manitoba Conservative MP questions move to send troops to Mali

A Manitoba MP andConservative defence critic is questioning the Trudeau government's decision to send peacekeeping troops to the troubled West African nation of Mali.

A government source confirmed Friday that Canada will send an aviation task force to Mali as part of a UN peacekeeping mission and that an official announcement will be made Monday.

But Selkirk-Interlake MP and defence critic James Bezan says the move raises more questions than answers and wonders if the mission is in the national interest or the Liberals'.

He says the situation in Mali is dangerous, and the Conservatives are hesitant about putting Canadian troops in harms way under UN command with no answers of how this is in Canada's national interest.

Mali has been in turmoil since a 2012 uprising prompted soldiers to overthrow the country's president.

Insurgents remain active and the UN has seen its multinational peacekeeping force in the region suffer more than 150 fatalities since its mission began in 2013.