THE 9TH SRI LANKA ARMY CONTINGENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS
The 9th Sri Lanka Army contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is to replace the serving 8th contingent for Force Protection duties in Lebanon shortly.
The 9th Sri Lanka’s Force Protection Unit (9 SLFPU), now ready for overseas deployment, consisted of 10 officers and 140 other rankers, has been made up with the troops from Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (76), Mechanized Infantry Regiment (24), Commando Regiment (14), Special Forces (8), Sri Lanka Engineers (4), Sri Lanka Signal Corps (4), Sri Lanka Army Service Corps (4), Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (4), Corps of Engineer Services (2), Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (2), Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps (2), Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police (2), Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps (2), 11 Sri Lanka Signal Corps (1) and 1 Logistic Officer.
The formal Passing Out Parade of the 150- strong SLFPU at the Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (VIR) Headquarters at Boyagane, Kurunegala on Thursday (5), saw the contingent accord their salute to their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel G.P Kodithuwakku in the presence of a gathering of senior officers and next of kin of the troops before their departure for Lebanon under specific segments. Major General Jagath Dias, Colonel of the Regiment VIR attended as the Chief Guest and reviewed the parade.
The first advance segment of the SLFPU contingent (four officers and eleven other rankers) left for Lebanon on Friday (6) to take up duties. The remaining contingent members are scheduled to leave on Sunday (15) and Wednesday (Feb 25) before the currently serving contingent in Lebanon returns to Sri Lanka on February 23, 2015.
The SLFPU in Lebanon, responsible for security and VIP duties at the UNIFIL Force Headquarters- Naqoura, controls all the access routes to the UNIFIL Headquarters and is under command to the Force Headquarters Support Unit (FHQSU) which is directly under the Force Commander.
Since the year 2010, Sri Lanka Army has dispatched 8 such contingents until this February to serve in Lebanon at the request of the UNIFIL. A total of 1200 Army Officers and Other Rankers of the Army, in addition to the 150 about to leave for Lebanon, have so far served Lebanon for a duration of six months, each contingent.
