Cambodia Sends 80 Blue Berets to Mali for UN Peacekeeping Mission
01/04/18 06:51

Phnom Penh (FN), March 30 – Cambodia has sent 80 blue berets, 4 females, to serve peacekeeping mission in Mali.

The send-off ceremony was held on Friday at Phnom Penh International Airport, presided over by General Sem Sovanney, director-general of the National Center for Peacekeeping Forces, Mine, and ERW Clearance.

According to the General, 309 Cambodian blue berets are currently on mission in Mali, divided into two expertise, including demining and airport maintenance. This is the fifth time that Cambodia sent the peacekeeping force to Mali under the UN framework.

Since 2006, Cambodia has sent approximately 5,000 Cambodian peacekeepers, including over 200 women to participate in 10 missions in eight countries, such as Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, and Mali, making Cambodia the second largest among ASEAN Member States to send forces under UN framework, according to General Sem Sovanney.
=FRESH NEWS

May 29 is International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

UN peacekeepers honoured
29 May 2018 | 10:30 ICT
Cambodia will hold a commemoration ceremony today for United Nations (UN) peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of service in foreign countries.

The event will take place at the Training Centre For Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in Kampong Speu province.

Phol Samorn, deputy director of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, told The Post that the UN hosts the “International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers” every May 29 to honour those who lost their lives while serving abroad.

“Cambodia is hosting a ceremony for personnel who died on UN peacekeeping missions, and we invite embassies and UN representatives to attend,” Samorn said.

He said the first time Cambodia sent peacekeeping forces on a UN mission was on April 12, 2006. More than 5,000 Cambodian peacekeepers have been sent to countries in Africa. Samorn also said seven Cambodian peacekeepers have lost their lives.
https://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/un ... s-honoured

Home again.
July 24, 2018
Cambodian peacekeepers returned home yesterday after completing a United Nations mission in Mali and South Sudan.

Defence Minister Tea Banh welcomed all 382 peacekeepers at the ministry.

Ministry spokesman General Chhum Sucheat said it was a matter of national pride for Cambodia to send peacekeepers to protect peace abroad.

Cambodians Wounded in Mission to Mali
15/11/18 08:12
Mali (FN), Nov. 14 – At least four Cambodians were injured in a suicide bomb explosion at a United Nations site in Mali, Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesman Chum Socheat announced on Wednesday.

Four Cambodians, working for an organization subcontracted by UNMAS (the UN’s mine-clearing operation) including interpreters, were wounded among the 14 injured and two dead, but no casualties befallen on Cambodian peacekeepers.

The attack, took place in the city of Gao at around 8:00 pm late Monday (Mali Time), was claimed by the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a fusion of three Malian jihadist groups allied with Al-Qaeda, according to a ministry statement.
=FRESH NEWS


A different source says that two Cambodians and two other nationalities were injured :

A Western diplomatic source separately told AFP that four foreigners working for a United Nations (UN)-contracted mine-clearing operation had been injured in the attack.
“Two Cambodians, a South African, and a Zimbabwean working for an organization subcontracted by UNMAS (the UN’s mine-clearing operation) were wounded on Monday in a terrorist attack in Gao.”