COLOMBO, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lanka Air Force has contributed approximately 130 million U.S. dollars to the national treasury through its involvement in UN peacekeeping operations since 2014, local media reported on Thursday.
Local media quoted Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa, as saying at the Passing Out Parade of a helicopter deployment unit assigned to the United Nations mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
The unit, comprising 20 officers and 88 airmen, is set to depart in early December, the Air Force reported.
Since 1957, beginning with its participation in the First UN Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Crisis, Sri Lanka has been active in UN peacekeeping missions, the Defense Ministry noted. ■