The United Nations (UN) has sought 850 troops from Bangladesh for a peacekeeping mission in Sudan.
United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in a letter to the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN recently urged the government to contribute with a coordinated infantry battalion composed of 850 personnel, said a press release of the permanent mission today.
The battalion has to be deployed within the shortest possible time to meet the immediate requirement in Wau area of South Sudan, said the release.
The government of Bangladesh has promptly accepted the offer and necessary preparations are underway for the speedy and smooth deployment.
Bangladesh also received offer of contributing an Engineering Company of 260 personnel last month. Both the compliments are expected to be deployed shortly under “United Nations Mission in South Sudan” (UNMISS).
The release said these offers have been received on the basis of pledges that were made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during “Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping” in September last year in New York.
Presently, a total of 6,850 including 198 female Bangladeshi peacekeepers are deployed in 13 different peacekeeping missions. So far a total of 1.46 lakh personnel of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police have participated in 54 peacekeeping missions in 40 different countries.