– Sri Lanka has deployed a further 498 military and security personnel to join the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) mission in Haiti, with two contingents departing the country within three days.A contingent of 218 personnel, comprising 173 Sri Lanka Army soldiers and 45 Special Task Force (STF) personnel, departed Sri Lanka on October 16 to join the international mission.Another contingent of 280 Sri Lanka Army personnel, including 21 officers and 259 other ranks, left for Haiti on October 14.The newly deployed personnel will join the Sri Lankan contingent already serving in Haiti, where troops are engaged in security operations, including armoured vehicle patrols and the protection of key supply routes.Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Army has extended its hospitality to a 50-member Bangladesh contingent travelling through Sri Lanka en route to the same mission.

The Bangladesh contingent arrived in Sri Lanka on October 15 and has been provided with food, accommodation, transportation and other essential facilities by the Sri Lanka Army as a gesture of goodwill and international cooperation.