ASTANA – The Kazakh Parliament approved the deployment of up to 430 peacekeepers to participate in United Nations missions at a Jan. 19 joint meeting of the houses of the Parliament, reported the Mazhilis press service.
Photo credit: Mazhilis
These missions are the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO, Palestine-Israel), the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA, Sudan).
Starting in March, it is planned to deploy 139 military personnel with their own military equipment, weapons and property as a reserve company to the UNDOF in the Golan Heights mission.
“Since 2014, 67 Kazakh officers have taken part in UN missions in Western Sahara, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, the Central African Republic and Lebanon as military observers and staff officers. Since 2018, 538 Kazakh military personnel have participated in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon mission as part of a peacekeeping unit,” said Kazakh Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov, reading out the message of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Six Kazakh officers serve in Western Sahara, two officers in the Central African Republic, two officers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and nine military personnel in Lebanon.
Tokayev noted that sending troops to UN peacekeeping missions (operations) not only significantly contributes to strengthening international security but also helps enhance Kazakhstan’s role on the global stage.
According to the President, participation in UN missions will allow the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan to acquire the necessary combat skills characteristic of peacekeeping operations, which will be used to improve the combat training of troops.
“The Armed Forces are ready to provide both individual military personnel as military observers and staff officers, as well as specialized units – infantry, medical, reconnaissance, engineering, which are most in demand in UN missions,” Tokayev said.
