Contribution to UN Peacekeeping Operations
Bangladesh Army personnel unloading boxes of food to a waiting CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter from the US 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at a Barisal airfield.
Non-lethal weapons training.
Main article: Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force
The Bangladesh Army has been actively involved in a number of United Nations Peace Support Operations (UNPSO) since its formation in the 1970s. Its first deployments came in 1988, when it participated in two operations – UNIIMOG in Iraq and UNTAG in Namibia[2] President HM Ershad initiated these deployments for the first time, starting with the contribution to UNIIMOG in Iraq.
Later, as part of the UNIKOM force deployed to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia following the Gulf War the Bangladesh Army sent a mechanized infantry battalion (approx. 2,193 personnel). Since then, the Bangladesh Army has been involved in up to thirty different UNPKOs in as many as twenty five countries. This has included activities in Angola, Namibia, Cambodia, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Uganda, Rwanda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Mozambique, former Yugoslavia, Liberia, Haiti, Tajikistan, Western Sahara, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Georgia, East Timor, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Ethiopia.
As a result of its contributions to various UN peacekeeping operations, up to 88 Bangladesh soldiers have lost their lives (as of February 2009). However, the performance of Bangladesh's contingents has been described as being of the "highest order" and the appointment of several senior Bangladesh military officers as the Commander of UN peacekeeping missions and Senior Military Liaison Officers, may be seen as further recognition of the Bangladesh Army's growing esteem in the peacekeeping community.
In January 2004, BBC described the Bangladeshi UN Force as "The Cream of UN Peacekeepers".Bangladesh Armed Forces participated in the Gulf war with finest cause of war of liberation of a sovereign nation; the state of Kuwait in 1991 alongside other multinational forces. Iraq invaded Kuwait, a sovereign and independent state in the year 1990. Bangladesh, being a peace loving member of UN and having respect for the sovereignty of all nations. Bangladesh Army was deployed during Operation Desert Storm under Allied Command to defend Kuwait. That was the beginning of Bangladesh Army's involvement in the Gulf Region. Kuwait was liberated on 26 February 1991. However, as the dawn of liberation smiled on Kuwait, closely followed the realization that every inch of its soil remained littered with lethal mines and bombs. Bangladesh came forward in rebuilding Kuwait alongside other countries. Bangladesh Army undertook the challenging task to clearing Kuwait braving all odds and adversaries. In the passage of time, military support and cooperation merely for their agreed formally to bring a contingent if Engineers from Bangladesh Army to undertake the challenging task of reconstruction of the war-devastated Kuwait; under the operational code name "Operation Kuwait Punargathan (OKP)" in English "Operation Rebuilding Kuwait (ORK)". Soldiers undertook the mammoth task of clearing the deadly mines and bombs scattered all over Kuwait. The reputation and the confidence that Bangladeshi soldiers built through their performance paved the way for more Bangladeshi troops to Kuwait. Since the year 1991, Bangladesh Military Contingent(BMC) was working under two different protocols named OKP Protocol and Skilled Technical Men for Kuwait(STMK)Protocol. On 2 May 2004, these two protocols were merged into a single protocol under which the Bangladesh Military Contingent is Presently operating.
Source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Army