Cameroon is for the 9th time preparing to deploy a new contingent of soldiers as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

According to the government daily newspaper Cameroon Tribune, the 750 Cameroonian elements that make up the country’s 9th contingent are being trained at the Training and Hardening Centre in the forest area of Motcheboum, in the Eastern region.

This is in order to acquire the specific capacities for peacekeeping operations and to become accustomed to the operational environment in CAR. The contingent in training received a delegation of UN evaluators on 7 July.

In addition to soldiers, the Cameroonian contingent also includes elements of the gendarmerie and police, for a total of more than 1,000 personnel usually deployed on behalf of the UNMIS.

As a reminder, the 8th contingent currently deployed in the Central African Republic left Cameroon in September 2021. Based in Bossangoa in the North West of the Central African Republic, it is under the command of Colonel Vincent Pehuie.