A 180 member contingent of the Female Formed Police Unit (FPU) of Bangladesh Police has left Dhaka to join the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO).
They left on a chartered flight of Bangladesh Biman from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 5am on Friday.
Police Headquarters AIG (media), Md Sohel Rana, confirmed this in a media statement on Friday.
According to the media statement, members of BANFPU-1 (Rotation-14), MONUSCO, DRC, led by Commander Marina Akhter, will replace BANFPU-1 (Rotation-13), MONUSCO, DRC.
The police unit has fifteen commanding staff including Deputy Commander Raunak Alam, Logistics Officer Md Harun Ur Rashid, and Operations Officer Samrat Mohammad Abu Sufian.
Salma Syed Polly was the commander of the outgoing BANFPU-1 (Rotation-13), MONUSCO, DRC. The outgoing unit served in the UN peacekeeping mission for the last 16 months with great efficiency and reputation amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
DIG (Logistics), Md Tawfiq Mahbub Chowdhury, gave necessary directions to the Congolese peacekeepers and bade them farewell at the airport, the statement says.
In 2005, the Female Formed Police Unit (FPU) of Bangladesh Police was sent to MONUSCO peacekeeping mission. They have been going to Democratic Republic of Congo since 2011.
The officers of Bangladesh Police have been performing their duties with distinction as individual police officers since 2019.
Bangladesh Police started participating in the UN peacekeeping missions in 1979. Since then, the red and green flag of Bangladesh has been flying next to the blue flag of the United Nations in various remote areas of Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, the statement said.
Over the past three decades, the professionalism and efficiency of the dedicated members of the Bangladesh Police in implementing the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission has earned unparalleled praise in the international arena. As such, Bangladesh's respect and dignity in the world community has increased.
The peacekeepers of Bangladesh Police are carrying out their duties with their UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Darfur, Sudan, and South Sudan with great morale and determination, despite the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic, according to the statement.
So far, 21 members of Bangladesh Police have sacrificed their lives while performing their duty towards world peace.
