| James Kon |
THIRTY Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) personnel were officially deployed on a peacekeeping mission to Lebanon under the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) following a send-off ceremony held yesterday morning at Bolkiah Garrison.
The RBAF peacekeepers will be joining troops from Malaysia and operate under the command of Malaysian Battalion 850-5 (MALBATT 850-5).
During the ceremony, RBAF Commander Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Major General Dato Paduka Seri Mohd Tawih bin Abdullah presented the national flag to the Head of the RBAF UNIFIL contingent, Major Khairul Azme bin Haji Mohidin, before being introduced to rest of the peacekeeping force.
Major Khairul Azme in an interview said, “As the Head of the UNIFIL contingent of RBAF this year, I hope that members of the contingent will work together with the Malaysian Battalion to carry out our mission successfully.
“We are flying the flag of Brunei Darussalam, RBAF and the UNIFIL, and we will do our best throughout the duration of this mission. The biggest challenge is leaving our families behind for a year.”
Also present at the ceremony were Captain (Rtd) Dato Paduka Abdul Rahman bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence; Datuk Ghulam Jelani bin Khanizaman, High Commissioner of Malaysia to Brunei Darussalam; service commanders; as well as members of the defence executive committee, military and civilian directors, commandants, and senior RBAF officers.
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