Superintendent John Tumbay, Head of the Department of Peacekeeping at the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), said until now the country had been sending individual police officers in peacekeeping operations. 

He added that the new system now means they will be deploying ‘Formed Police Unit,’ which comprises a contingent of armed personnel with medical units, including nurses and doctors and the use of armored vehicles.

Sierra Leonean police officers are currently deployed in three security hotspots: 22 in Darfur as part of the United Nations and African Union Hybrid Operation – UNAMID; 12 in South Sudan under UNMISS; and a total of 192 officers, including 33 individual officers in Somalia under the African Union mission (AMISOM).

The new contingent which departed on Sunday will be replacing the 159 troops expected back home.