Visit to Pakistan UN Mission in Central African Republic (CAR)
Brig Imran Rashid (Retd), Faculty Member and Senior Research Fellow visited CAR (MINUSCA) from 28 Oct 2019 to 02 Nov 2019. The visit was conducted as per the following events:
Visit of Force Headquarters – Meeting with Force Comd/ Force and Deputy Chief of Staff and Mission Training Team. Force Commander and Force Chief of Staff were very satisfied with professionalism displayed by Pakistan Contingent as well as MSO/ Milobs. They especially mentioned an excellent response to crisis and disaster management and keeping operational worthiness of the entire Pakistan Aviation Squadron. The Force Commander specially mentioned Infrastructure Development by Pakistan Engineers (PEC VII) and CIMIC activities carried out by Pakistan Battalion (Pak Batt V). Both the important appointment officers mentioned that although Pakistan contingent is deployed in an extremely difficult operational environment but their performance/ response was as per UN standard and expectations.
Visit – Pakistan Contingent Headquarters, Pakistan Infantry Batallion, Pakistan Engineers Company and Aviation Squadron at Kaga Bandoro/ Bangui. The HQ/ units are focused, clear about mandates, interlinked and cohesive. Through professionalism, they have restored normalcy in AOR, had no deduction in COE reimbursement and no SEA case in the last eight months.
Meeting with Head of Services and Sector Commander. Both were highly appreciative of Pakistan contingent operational performance, Confidence Building Measures taken to gain the trust of the civilian population and various initiatives taken to win the hearts and minds of the civilians in their area of responsibility. The head of services was very impressed by the seamless transitions and constant efforts to improve. He termed Pakitan Contingent as the mainstay of their sector.
Conclusion: The visit to Pakistan Mission in CAR was very informative, provided an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by troops, the execution of their mandated tasks and certain minor issues they faced which will / can be addressed in future missions in MINUSCA.
(Click on the picture for more photos)