Colonel David Attard, Deputy Commander of the AFM, is to become the commandant of Safi Detention Centre while Lt Col Brian Gatt will head the other detention centres in the first phase of a reform of the Detention Service, informed sources said this afternoon.

The Safi Detention Centre is by far the largest detention centre for migrants in Malta.

The detention centres will eventually be merged into one facility under a unified command which will be independent of the AFM.

Col Attard was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1988 and graduated from infantry colleges in Italy and the United States. He also achieved a masters degree in defence studies from King's College London and also qualified from the advanced command and staff college, Joint Services Staff College, UK.

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