ASTANA: Kazakhstan will send in March its first independent UN peacekeeping mission to the Middle East, the government announced on Friday.
Both chambers of the parliament voted for the proposal of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to deploy 139 Kazakh peacekeepers to the Golan Heights in Syria.
Commenting on the parliament’s decision, Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov said that the peacekeepers will serve as a reserve company of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force at the Golan Heights.
He said that participation in a peacekeeping mission will allow the armed troops of Kazakhstan to acquire the required combat skills characteristic of peacekeeping operations.
Kazakhstan gets first independent mission
He added that it is the first time the United Nations has given Astana an independent mission.
In January, Tokayev proposed to station to 430 Kazakh peacekeepers in Africa and the Middle East.
Moreover, Kazakh peacekeepers are likely to take part in the UN Truce Supervision Organisation, Mission in South Sudan and Interim Security Force for Abyei.
