Bangladesh troops for South Sudan

A Bangladesh Army battalion will leave for South Sudan this week to join the ‘peacekeeping mission’ in the strife-torn infant African nation at the request of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the United Nations AKA Momen said the soldiers would set off for the mission by Dec 28.

The UN Security Council immediately wanted deployment of 14,000 troops to South Sudan as the situation there worsened, Momen told bdnews24.com on Wednesday night.

The UN has already made arrangements to transport the Bangladeshi soldiers and their equipments to South Sudan.

The government has directed the Ministry of Defence and the army to send the battalion after the UN chief called Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with a request to send one more battalion of troops from Bangladesh.

After speaking to the Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Ban Ki-moon also called the chairperson of African Union Commission, heads of the state and government of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Malawi, Tanzania, Pakistan and Nepal, said UN Secretary General’s spokesperson.

Thousands of people have died in clashes between the government and the rebels in South Sudan over past several weeks, said the UN.

Bangladesh has been sending troops to the UN peacekeeping mission since 1988 and their contribution has been well acclaimed.

Now, it is only behind Pakistan in sending troops to UN peacekeeping missions.

According to the latest update (November), 98,267 soldiers from 120 countries are deployed in various countries on UN peace-keeping missions.

7,968 of them are from Bangladesh, 8,298 are from Pakistan. Other countries have contributed smaller contingents.

Some 110 Bangladesh soldiers have so far died during UN peacekeeping operations.