Phnom Penh (FN), April 3 – Prime Minister Hun Sen recommended Minister of National Defense Tea Banh to continue following up with Cambodian Blue Berets in Mali under United Nations Peacekeeping Mission, addressing to 2,860 students at Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich Hall on Tuesday.

"Minister of National Defense shall scrutinize issues in Mali and Central African Republic following the failure in ceasefire,” said the premier adding that “The rebels even shot UN peacekeepers, including Cambodians”.

Cambodian peacekeepers’ camps in Kidal, Mali was attacked by an unidentified group at 6:55 A.M in Mali (1:55 P.M in Cambodia) on March 22, 2018, but not no one was injured, only some properties damaged.

In last November, Cambodian forces on the mission to clear unexploded ordnance in Mali were also attacked by the rebels.

Despite the attacks, Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated the commitment to sending Cambodian peacekeepers to overseas UN missions.

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, director-general of the National Center for Peacekeeping Forces, Mine, and ERW Clearance.
=FRESH NEWS