The first two Sri Lanka Army female Officers selected to serve in the Central African Republic as Military Observers (MILOBS) in UN Peace Keeping Mission in Central Africa (MINUSCA) received blessings of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake at the Army Headquarters on Friday.

Major Dishanthi Mendis of the Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps (SLAGSC) and Major Nishanthi Liyanage of the Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps (SLAWC) will serve as UN military observers in the Central African Republic for a period of one year.

After Sri Lanka joined the United Nations Organization in 1955, the first UN mission of the Army was sent to Congo in the African continent.  It was only a 16 member team and its mission commenced in 1960 and ended in 1962.