Kazakhstan to send peacekeepers to Golan Heights, Sudan

ASTANA. Jan 19 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed that up to 430 members of the Kazakh Armed Forces' peacekeeping contingent be attached to UN missions abroad, Kazakh Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov said.

"It is proposed that a peacekeeping contingent of the Kazakh Armed Forces (a reserve company, staff officers, military observers and specialized units) totaling 430 men be attached to the following UN missions: the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force on Golan Heights (UNDOF, Syria-Israel), the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO, Palestine-Israel), the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS, South Sudan) and the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA, Sudan)," Zhaksylykov read out the presidential address at a joint meeting of parliament chambers on Friday.

The Kazakh Armed Forces are ready to assign particular servicemen as military observers or staff officers and specialized units - infantry, medical, reconnaissance and engineering, which are in most demand in UN missions, he said.

The deployments will begin in March 2024, Zhaksylykov said, adding that an international agreement will be signed with the United Nations to specify obligations of the sides, and financial, supply and logistics aspects of the contingent's involvement in the missions.

"Kazakhstan will finance transportation of the contingent and its property. Particular units, obligations and the term of deployment will be specified in the course of work with the UN Secretariat," Zhaksylykov said.

The Kazakh parliament supported the president's proposal, and 47 senators and 90 Mazhilis members voted for the contingent's deployment.

According to the Kazakh Defense Ministry, 67 Kazakh officers have taken part in UN missions in Western Sahara, Ivory Coast, Mali, Central African Republic and Lebanon as military observers and staff officers since 2014. Since 2018, 538 Kazakh servicemen have served in the peacekeeping unit of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Nowadays, Kazakh servicemen are also serving in UN missions, including six officers in Western Sahara, two officers in the Central African Republic, two officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and nine servicemen in Lebanon.