A Bangladesh military contingent with strength of 175 personnel overnight flew to Sudan to replace its own troops at the African country’s troubled Darfur region as part of UN peacekeeping operations, an ISPR statement said on Saturday.
The statement said senior army officials saw the contingent off at the Hazrat Shahjahal International Airport (HSIA) offering a special munajat last night while an UN-chartered aircraft carried them to Darfur, the scene of the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
The UN hybrid operation in the trouble region was launched under a UN Security Council resolution on July 31, 2007 to support political process in that country and carry out a number of security-related tasks with the mission’s core mandate being protection of civilians.
Officials familiar with the mission, however, said the UNAMID was also tasked with
the responsibility of contributing to security for humanitarian assistance, monitoring
and verifying implementation of agreements, assisting an inclusive political process.
Among other issues, they said, the UN peacekeepers were tasked to contribute to the
promotion of human rights and the rule of law, and monitoring and reporting on the
situation along the borders with Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) as well.
