UN appoints Bangladeshi as force commander of Cyprus peacekeeping mission

The UN secretary-general has announced the appointment of Major General Mohammad Humayun Kabir of Bangladesh Army as Force Commander of Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

The commandant of the Bangladesh Military Academy will succeed Major General Kristin Lund of Norway, who will complete her assignment on Thursday, the UN Information Centre said.

The appointment came amid Bangladesh’s demand to get more commanding roles in the peacekeeping missions as a top troops-sending country.

Until last year, Bangladesh deployed nearly 9,500 troops and police in 10 different UN missions and topped the list of countries that send peacekeepers.

The UN said born in 1965, Major General Kabir has had a “distinguished military career, with over 32 years of wide-ranging command and staff experience”.

Since 1989, he has held command positions at unit, battalion, brigade and divisional level in the Bangladesh Army as well as senior staff appointments.

As brigadier general, he commanded an infantry brigade and served as the director of Military Operations of the Bangladesh Army.

He commanded an infantry division from 2013 to 2016, and then was appointed to his current position.

Major General Kabir’s experience with the UN includes service as a Military Observer with the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) from 2002 to 2003, and with the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) from 1995 to 1996.

He holds three Masters degrees, in international security and strategy from King’s College, London (2013), in business administration from the University of Dhaka (2002-2005), and in defence studies from Bangladesh National University (1998-1999).

He is also a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies, UK (2012-2013) and US Army Command and General Staff College (1999-2000).