Military Commander Dispatches Konga Forces to Congo

Jakarta (Antara) - Commander of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) General Moeldoko sent 175 military personnel grouped in the Garuda Contingent XX-K (Konga XX-K),on Tuesday, to carry out peacekeeping mission for one year in Congo. The Indonesian KONGA XX-K will team up with the UN's Mission de I'Organisation de republic des Nation Unies Pour la Stabilisation en Republique Democratique du Congo (MONUSCO) to carry out their mission in the country. Acting as the inspector of the ceremony to see off the contingent, the TNI commander stated that the dispatch of the 175 soldiers was to replace TNI's Konga XX-J/MONUSCO Task Force that will end its service in Congo at the end of this month (December). He stated that the 175 personnel of Konga XX-K consisted of 148 Army officers, 18 from the Navy, five from the Air Force, and four from the TNI headquarters. The Konga XX-K Task Force is chaired by Major Nurdihin Adi Nugroho of the Mulawarman Regional Military Command VI. "They will depart on Tuesday night (Dec. 31) and will carry out their peace mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Moeldoko noted. The TNI Commander added that Konga XX-K/MONUSCO will work on road maintenance from Dungu to Ngilima, routine maintenance of the Dungu Runway, the construction of a helipad hangar, the asphalting of a taxi way and the repair of the 140 km Dungu-Faradje road. According to Moeldoko, the Indonesian contingent task force will also construct a road stretching 24 km from Faradje to Gilima and repair the 140 km Dungu - Fardje road section. Before they depart to Congo, Konga XX/MONUSCO Task Force personnel underwent a pre-assignment training at the TNI's Peace Mission Center (PMPP) in Sentul, Bogor, West Java for one month. The topics covered during the training were Introduction to UN peacekeeping, Fundamental principles of UN peacekeeping, Establishment & Operation of security council mandates in Peacekeeping Operations (PKO), How united nations PKO function, International law relevant to PKO, Human rights protection in PKO Women, peace and security. (*)