Irish soldiers are getting very experienced at pulling out of overseas missions.
Last year, it wound down its contribution of 133 troops to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission on the Golan Heights in Syria, a process which involved a huge logistical operation. Prior to that, it ended its smaller contributions to UN missions in Congo, Western Sahara and Mali.
Those operations will pale in comparison to the upcoming withdrawal of Irish troops from southern Lebanon with the conclusion of the Unifil peacekeeping mission there.
Last month, under pressure from the US and Israel which want the mission terminated, the UN Security Council agreed to extend Unifil’s mandate for another year before finally ending its presence in the region in 2027.
Even before that, Unifil’s operations are likely to be significantly curtailed by a 15 per cent budget cut necessitated by a lack of funding for peacekeeping operations.
The Irish withdrawal will be overseen by an “joint operational planning group”, Defence Forces chief of staff Lieut Gen Rossa Mulcahy said during a visit to the mission this week.
“It’ll look at all the elements.
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