Cambodia Readies for More Peacekeeping Training

“We are focusing on the management of peacekeeping and humanitarian missions,” said Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense. Military forces from the US and Cambodia, are training in Cambodia this week, to better coordinate peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, officials said Monday. More than 400 personnel will take part in training exercises that begin Wednesday in Kampong Speu province and run through May 27. About 140 US personnel, 375 Cambodians and support teams from Indonesia, Malaysia and Mongolia are taking part, Ken Sosavoeun, deputy director for the National Center for Peacekeeping, a military agency, said. Following training, Cambodian personnel will rotate through UN peacekeeping operations in Sudan, Lebanon, Chad and Central Africa, he said. “We are focusing on the management of peacekeeping and humanitarian missions,” said Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense. The soldiers will work together to better coordinate command structures, rescue missions, and engineering projects, such as hospitals, schools or houses, he said. “I think that this exercise is very importance to increase the cooperation between US and Cambodian military forces,” he added, “We have an experience and knowledge sharing at each other between US and Cambodian military forces.” This exercise is secondly 2011 Angkor Sentinel, after Cambodia held Angkor Sentinel in 2010 as part of US-sponsored Global Peace Operations Initiative, aiming to develop the UN peacekeeping capacities of developing countries. By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer, 16 May 2011