Bangladeshi peacekeepers start to join Darfur mission
May 22, 2009 (EL-FASHER) – Some 245 Bangladeshi peacekeepers arrived Thursday to capital of South Darfur State, Nyala as A first batch of 500 troops to boost the ranks of the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
The sector reserve force and the platoon handling the movement of staff and cargo will both be deployed by UNAMID Military in Nyala, while the FPUs will be stationed in El Geneina in West Darfur and Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur respectively.
UNAMID’s Force Commander, General Martin Luther Agwai, said today that the arrival of the additional Bangladeshi peacekeepers would help strengthen the work of the Mission.
“These new troops will play an important role in our efforts to ensure the safety of the civilian population in Darfur and to promote peace and security across the region,” Gen. Agwai said. “We urge more countries to contribute personnel to the Mission in the future.”
Bangladesh already contributes 348 peacekeepers to UNAMID as part of a multi-role logistics unit, nearly 40 military observers, liaison officers and staff officers, 77 police advisers and a separate FPU, which is based in Nyala.
Furthermore, some 52 Filipino police advisers arrived on Friday at UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher for induction training ahead of their planned deployment within the region. Earlier this week 39 Nigerian police advisers joined the Mission, while more than 60 police from Sierra Leone are expected to arrive next week.
With the scheduled arrival of the second batch of Bangladeshi peacekeepers tomorrow, UNAMID will have 13,454 military personnel (69 per cent of its mandated strength), 1,855 police advisers (49 per cent) and 978 FPU members (37 per cent) as it works towards achieving full deployment so that it can fulfil its mandate.
UNAMID is supposed to have more than 26,000 uniformed personnel, including peacekeepers and police officers, when it reaches full deployment.
(ST)