Phnom Penh (FN), March 17 - Cambodia has dispatched 80 additional Peacekeepers to Mali under the umbrella of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation.

The send-off ceremony was held Friday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was presided over by Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn.

The Peacekeepers will depart for Africa Friday evening at 6pm according to Lt. Gen. Sem Sovanny, Director-General of the National Center for Peacekeeping Forces, Mine and Explosive Remnants of War. Based on the report, 42 Cambodian forces have also participated in the 2017 Multinational Peacekeeping Exercise and Global Peace Operations Initiative in Nepal.

The forces will depart in two groups – the first unit left Cambodia on March 14, and the second will depart on March 19. They are expected to return April 4, 2017.

Ten years ago Cambodia signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations regarding Peacekeeping operations. Cambodia has sent 3,557 troops on U.N.peacekeeping missions over the past ten years.

Currently, there are approximately 800 Cambodian troops, on missions in Mali, Lebanon, Central Africa, and South Sudan. They are working as engineers (demining), medical doctors, and military police.
=FRESH NEWS