UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has honoured 600 Ugandan troops guarding UN facilities and personnel in volatile Somalia, a Ugandan official said on Monday.
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Lt.-Col. Deo Akiiki, Deputy Ugandan Military spokesman, tweeted that the troops serving under the sixth UN Guard Unit in Somalia, received medals from Guterres.
“The medals are in recognition of the one-year selfless service in securing the UN facilities and personnel against al-Shabab threats,” Akiiki said.
The award ceremony held in Somalia was presided over by James Swan, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia.
The troops are deployed in Somalia on a rotational basis.
Besides providing protection services to the UN, Uganda provides the bulk of the troops under the AU Mission in Somalia.
Uganda has more than 6,000 troops deployed in Somalia.