Zambia’s
United Nations peacekeeping contingent deploys in the trouble torn Central
African Republic (CAR) today.
Trained over
several months in modern peacekeeping operations by the United States military,
the 750-strong Zambian battalion will fly out in several hours.
While morale
is said to be high, Zambian military sources, some of who are veterans of war in
Sierra Leone, have strongly indicated the Zambian contingent must be fully
alert when they deploy to CAR, a country with many different armed groups both
Moslem and Christian.
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| A fighter from the christian "anti-balaka" militia in CAR |
The sources
cited a past incident in Sierra Leone when an entire Zambian battalion was
ambushed by a rebel group and held hostage.
However Zambian
military sources are confident that the skills and military techniques imparted
on them by the US military took the issue of religious extremism, which is
prevalent in CAR, into account.