Liberia has received military equipment from China to boost ist national armed forces 2802144

Posted On
a

Defence & Security News - Liberia
 
 
Friday, February 28, 2014 11:44 AM
 
Liberia has received military equipment from China to boost ist national armed forces.
Liberia has received another boost in the rebuilding efforts of a new national army with a donation of equipment valued US$4 million by the Government of the People's Republic of China.
     
Liberia has received another boost in the rebuilding efforts of a new national army with a donation of equipment valued US$4million by the Government of the People's Republic of China.
A U.S. Marine Corps officer speaks to AFL (Armed forces of Liberia) troops during a 2009 training exercise
     
Following years of training and the recent takeover of a Liberian Chief of Staff and other senior officers, the logistical aspect of the army is now being addressed through goodwill gestures from international partners including the Chinese Government. At the official turning over ceremony of the engineering equipment Wednesday, Chinese Ambassador to Liberia, H.E. Zhang Yue said the donation is in fulfillment of a protocol signed with the Government of Liberia.

The Chinese envoy disclosed that the donation of the equipment will be followed by the capacity building component of personnel of the AFL in the use of the equipment to enhance the contribution of the army to economic recovery."

Liberia's Foreign Minister Augustine K. Ngafuan during the program, said the new army is a force with professionals from diverse professions.

A new national Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) was formally reconstituted through a Defence Act by the President in August 2008. By mid-2009, the AFL had a total strength of 2,150 trained personnel, which form the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 23nd Infantry Brigade as well as supports units to include 1 engineer Company, on training unit and one military police Company.

In 2013, the AFL deployed a platoon as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, marking the first time that the AFL had operated abroad since the United Nations Operation in the Congo in the early 1960s.