Pakistan to Send 4,000 Troops to U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone

Pakistan has decided to deploy a brigade-size contingent of over 4,000 troops to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), a U.N. spokesman announced in New York Thursday.

However, details of the deployment, including discussion on equipment, logistics and transportation requirements are still being worked out, spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva told reporters.

The U.N. Security Council last Friday boosted the U.N. presence in the western African country to 17,500 troops from 10,350 authorized previously to enable the peacekeepers to push deeper into rebel-held areas.

Nepal is also actively considering offering a battalion, which would bring the troop strength of the mission close to the newly mandated level. The current strength stands at a little over 12, 000 military personnel.

Set up in October 1999 to monitor the peace agreement which formally ended the nine-year civil war in Sierra Leone, UNAMSIL is the largest U.N. peacekeeping mission.

The council has called all parties to the conflict, including the rebel Revolutionary Untied Front (RUF) to intensify efforts towards peace dialogue in order to ensure the full implementation of the cease-fire accord signed in July 1999.

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