ASTANA – Two Kazakh Armed Forces officers have returned to Kazakhstan after serving one year as military observers for the United Nations Mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO), reported the Kazakh Ministry of Defence press service.
Captain Temirkan Musapirov and Major Bakhtiar Akbalayev served as observers in the African nation with representatives from more than 30 countries.
In the course of the peacekeeping mission, the officers were awarded medals from the United Nations for their excellent and exemplary service as military observers. Today, back home, Musapirov and Akbalayev have resumed their service in the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan.
It should be noted that seven Kazakh officers are serving in UN peacekeeping missions: five of them are in Western Sahara; two officers are in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI).
In addition, Kazakhstan is ready to send up to five officers each to the UN missions in Western Sahara, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti (UNMIH) and Liberia (UNMIL).
In accordance with the mandate of the United Nations, military observers’ main duties include organising and conducting ground and air patrols, completing night observation posts, collecting and analysing information, monitoring compliance and implementing agreements, as well as detecting violations in the area of responsibility.
