New batch of 270 to S. Sudan on peacekeeping mission

February 11, 2018 (KIGALI/JUBA) – A new group of 270 members of Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) on Sunday left for a one-year rotational peacekeeping mission in war-torn South Sudan.

They 270 part of a battalion of 920 soldiers of the mechanised infantry who will work under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), under the command of Colonel Frank Karakire.

The RDF spokesperson, Lt Col Innocent Munyengango told The New Times newspaper that they will be in the regional protection force, and their main mandate will be to protect the population in the capital, Juba as well as their properties.

123 soldiers of the same battalion left for South Sudan in August last year.

According to Executive Summary of the Independent Special Investigation into the violence which occurred in Juba in 2016 and UNMISS response, the crisis that took place in the South Sudan capital in July 2016, saw intense fighting that resulted in the deaths of many civilians, two peacekeepers of UNMISS, and the collapse of the fragile peace agreement between the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, and the country’s former First-Vice President, Riek Machar.

Thousands of civilians were displaced and more than 200 people killed.
Rwanda has over 2,300 soldiers working to restore peace in south Sudan. Overall, however, Rwanda reportedly has 6,247 soldiers in UN peacekeeping mission in various nations, including North Sudan and Central Africa, of whom 141 are women.

(ST)