Fresh contingent of India’s paramilitary heads for Congo

By IANS

New Delhi : A fresh contingent of 125 personnel of India’s paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) is set to leave next week for the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the UN peacekeeping mission, a senior force official said Wednesday.


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BSF Director General A.K. Mitra Wednesday flagged off the third such contingent for the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the third largest African country that shares borders with nine countries. The BSF contingent will leave Feb 19.

“A strict criterion of selection was adopted and the contingent comprising 125 troopers was meticulously selected based on their good record of service, professional competence, excellent physical fitness and skill at arms,” a senior force official told IANS.

“The challenging task in this mission is to restore law and order and to create atmosphere conducive for holding elections in a land riddled with multifaceted internal contradictions and conflicts,” the official added.

The contingent under the leadership of Commandant D.P. Singh would replace the present batch based in Kinshasa Feb 26 and would be engaged in policing under the UN command.

The official said the first BSF contingent comprising 125 personnel dispatched for the African nation Nov 22, 2005 was deployed in Lubumbashi. It was also deployed for elections duty in June 2006 and November 2006.

The first batch was replaced after 15 months by another contingent of similar strength.

In the past, the BSF was actively involved in several peacekeeping missions in Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Sudan and Kosovo.

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