Gambia-Bangladesh Co-Deployment Mission to Replace Darfur Mission

20 June 2023
The Point (Banjul)
By Adama Jallow

The Chief of Defense Staff, Lt-General Yankuba A. Drammeh has stated that Gambia Armed Forces mission to Darfur in Sudan will be replaced by a co-deployment mission involving The Gambia and Bangladesh.

The Gambia Armed Forces mission, which was in Darfur for decades, ended two years ago owing to political decisions.

CDS Drammeh made the disclosure while speaking to the media at the end of a working visit by the Bangladeshi Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed.

The Bangladeshi Army Chief visited the Gambia Armed Forces Training School in Fajara Barracks to assess and make informed decision.

He commended the Gambia Armed Forces and by extension The Gambia nation for accepting to be part of a co-deployment mission.

For his part, CDS Drammeh outlined the recent achievements registered by the Gambia Armed Forces in their past missions to Darfur, saying the Gambia Armed Forces had served in many operations across the world, where GAF excelled to the satisfaction of those who constituted the missions.

"We, the Gambia Armed Forces have been reputed when it comes to peacekeeping by serving in many operations in the past," he stated. "We have very enviable performance track records in these missions starting with Ecomog in the 1990s, the Ecomog Missions in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the African Mission in Darfur, Sudan, likewise the Hybrid African Union and the United Nations Missions in Darfur."

CDS Drammeh further said: "In 2018, the Gambia made a pledge to the United Nations to say we would like to provide what we call a quick reaction force in one of the existing missions. Without hesitation, the UN in principle accepted the proposal from the Gambian side. During the period under review, we have undertaken lots of planning and preparations to actualise that dream."

He added: "As and when the situation becomes untenable, we could be called upon to perform special functions to restore peace and security in that given area, which is both physically and mentally demanding.

"I do not doubt the credibility and performance of troops under my command. On the basis of that, I have always maintained saying 'yes, we can provide a quick reaction force."

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