13/12/2019
🔷️Task Force 976: Thai Troops in Iraq. 🔹️🔹️🔹️
About a year ago I did a post on some of the foreign troops involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Namely the foreign troops that made up the Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I).
🔷️Of the many nations that were involved, Thailand is one country you never really would have expected to deploy troops to support the coalition. Thailand has had a pretty interesting military history when it comes to the number of operations it has been involved in. Both abroad and at home.
🔷️One example of the many foreign deployments that Thailand was involved in is the early years of the war in Iraq. From September 2003 until September 2004. Thailand deployed 423 troops to provide Humanitarian Assistance initially, though by it's peak the force saw more the amount. Similiar to the mission of many other nations in the MNF-I the Thai were aimed at reconstruction-humanitarian aid operations.
🔷️Formed as Thai Humanitarian Task Force 976 Thai-Iraq. The unit was deployed to Lima Camp in Karbala. Thai Forces operated under the command of the Polish MND-CS. The operations conducted by Thailand were aimed at getting facilities such as hospitals, clinics, schools and other vital parts of the infrastructure rebuilt or renovated then reopened. Thai Forces were also tasked to assist in building or repairing installations manned by MND-CS around the city of Karbala. Medical Teams were also busy supporting the local populace and worked alongside the Polish forces.
🔷️On December 27, 2003, Camp Lima was struck by su***de bombers from JTJ which saw the deaths of 5 Bulgarians, 7 Iraqi Police Officers, 5 Iraqi Civilians, and 2 Thai Soldiers. The attack left another 200 wounded. Despite the attack which saw two troops from the Task Force killed and another six wounded. The Thai Government kept the TF-976 deployed until the original mandate finally expired September of 2004. After that all Thai Troops returned home.
🔷️TF-976 in a lot of ways is very similar to the other MNF-I units which were deployed to render support through either combat or non-combat operations. Notably such as the Japanese Iraq Reconstruction & Support Group (JIRSG) or the Republic of Korea's Zaytun Division.
- Squint🔷️Military Mnie Zone🔷️🔹️🔹️🔹️♦️♦️🔰
