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Bangladesh troops rule UN missions

More peacekeepers going to Ivory Coast, Sudan this month

SHAKHAWAT LITON
Bangladesh will become the largest contributor to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, beating Pakistan, as more troops are being sent to Ivory Coast and Sudan this month, sources in the army said.
At present, over 9,000 Bangladeshi troops are stationed abroad on 12 peacekeeping missions under the UN flag while Pakistan's contribution stands at 9,200 troops.
The number of Bangladeshi troops stood at 9,123 after sending a fresh contingent of 288 peacekeepers to Ivory Coast on Wednesday night.
The figure is expected to reach 10,203 by this month as more troops will leave Dhaka to join UN missions, sources said. Another contingent of 119 police officers and 49 soldiers of the armed forces will leave Dhaka on October 9 for Ivory Coast while a troop of 912 soldiers will be sent to Sudan, sources told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, a significant number of Pakistani troops are preparing to leave Sierra Leone following a UN decision. Pakistan had sent a brigadesize contingent of over 4,000 troops to the UN mission in Sierra Leone.
At present, 3,340 Bangladeshi
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troops are stationed in Ivory Coast, 3,217 in Liberia, 1,391 in Congo, 727 in Sudan, 246 in Sierra Leone, 182 in Ethiopia-Eritrea, seven each in Western Sahara and Georgia, two each in Burundi and East Timor, and one each in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Bangladesh got the commanding post in Sudan peacekeeping mission, which was dubbed most challenging as the UN itself for the first time in over 50 years of peacekeeping history established an Advance Mission in Sudan prior to the current mission in line with the Security Council Resolution 1590.
Force Commander of the mission Major General Fazle Elahi Akbar in an online interview with The Daily Star last May said Bangladeshi troops will live up to their billing as outstanding peacekeepers and play a significant role in the challenging UN mission in Sudan to restore peace there.
Sources in Dhaka said the deployment of the troops has not yet been completed in the war-torn Sudan as
the forces are facing difficulties.
Earlier in 1996-97, Bangladesh ranked first as troops contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions, former army chief Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star.
Since Bangladesh started participating in the UN's peacekeeping missions in 1988, it has contributed a total of over 42,000 soldiers, nearly half the total troops of Bangladesh Army, to 31 missions and earned over Tk 4,600 crore.
The Bangladesh Army has lost over 61 soldiers in these UN missions.
Many say although a variety of domestic issues such as weak political structures and economic pressures continue to pose challenges to Bangladesh, they have not deterred the nation from fulfilling its global responsibilities.
The strength of Bangladesh's commitment to peacekeeping can be seen in its readiness to contribute large, varied and sizeable troops.