The Ministry of National Defence held a ceremony in Hanoi on October 7 to present decisions of the State President and the Defence Minister to three officers who will assume duties at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

They include Lieutenant Colonel Vu Thi Kim Oanh and Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Thu, who will respectively serve as a quartermaster and a senior staff officer for training at UNISFA. Meanwhile, Captain Chu Tuan Linh will act as a military observer at UNMISS.

The three will replace the Vietnamese officers holding the positions at the missions.

Major General Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said the three officers have undergone methodological training and met the UN and the Defence Ministry’s requirements. Among them, Oanh previously worked as a military observer at UNMISS, and Thu as a staff officer for logistics at UNISFA.

Congratulating the officers, Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, who is also head of the Defence Ministry’s steering committee for the participation in UN peacekeeping operations, said they are all outstanding officers in the army, noting the experiences they have gained in the recent past are important to their performance of duties at the missions.

On behalf of the officers, Oanh pledged that they will maintain solidarity, actively cooperate with colleagues, and stay determined to excellently fulfil the tasks assigned by the UN, the Central Military Commission, and leaders of the Defence Ministry.

They will also help popularise the image of the hospitable, humanistic, and peace-loving Vietnamese people, along with the good virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, to international friends, she added./. VNA