UN says record number of about 118,000 peacekeepers currently deployed in 16 missions
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The U.N. peacekeeping chief says a record number of about 118,000 peacekeepers are currently deployed in 16 missions around the world, and he's hoping that countries withdrawing their forces from Afghanistan will strengthen U.N. forces with their high-tech assets.
Herve Ladsous says a number of countries that left Afghanistan are already back in U.N. peacekeeping, including Ireland in the Golan Heights and the Netherlands and Sweden in Mali.
Ladsous told a news conference Thursday the record figure will increase in the coming months when several thousand additional peacekeepers arrive in South Sudan, including a battalion from China, and the U.N. starts peacekeeping duties in Central African Republic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Security Council has authorized 11,800 U.N. peacekeepers to take over from 5,000 African Union soldiers in Central African Republic on Sept. 15.