Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force

The Bangladesh Armed Forces and the Bangladesh Police have been actively involved in a number of United Nations Peace Support Operations (UNPSO) since 1988.

Its 1st deployments came in 1988, when it participated in two operations - UNIIMOG in Iraq and UNTAG in Namibia. The then military dictator and President-elect of Bangladesh, Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad initiated these deployments in 1988 for the first time with UNIIMOG with 15 military observers.

Later, as part of the UNIKOM force deployed to Kuwait following the Gulf War the Bangladesh Army sent a mechanized infantry brigade (approximately 2,193 personnel). In 1994 1200 Bangladeshi peacekeepers founded themselves under siege by Bosnian Serbs in the Bosnia after replacing a French contingent during UNPROFOR operations. The Bangladeshi commander asked for NATO air cover which was not provided. This was in contrast to when the French UN peacekeepers were attacked and NATO responded by providing cover. Over a hundred peacekeepers died in the region including Bangladeshi soldiers. The Bangladeshi soldiers were under equipped. During the Rwandan Civil war it was alleged by the commander of UN forces in Rwanda General Roméo Dallaire that Bangladeshi peacekeepers sabotaged their own vehicles in order to avoid going on patrols.

Since then, the Bangladesh Army has been involved in up to thirty different UNPKO's covering as many as twenty-five countries. This has included activities in Namibia, Cambodia, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, former Yugoslavia, Liberia, Haiti, Tajikistan, Western Sahara, Sierra Leone, Georgia, Congo, and Côte d'Ivoire. Bangladesh has sent its personal to at least 45 UNPKO and more than 83,000 personal of Bangladesh having served in those missions.

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