Operation Trenton: 4 things you need to know

1. What is Operation TRENTON?

Operation TRENTON is the codename for British military element of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), involving a taskforce of UK Armed Forces personnel.

South Sudan is a country in conflict in East-Central Africa, ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world.

There are more than 300 personnel who make up the UK Engineer Task Force in South Sudan, making it one of the UK’s largest operational deployments.

Members of the UK Task Force in Malakal, South Sudan

2. What is a peacekeeping mission?

United Nations Peacekeeping missions aim to help countries to navigate from conflict to peace by deploying troops, police and civilian peacekeepers from across the world to address mandates set by the UN security council and the General Assembly.

3. What’s the role of the UK Task Force?

The basic role of the Task Force is to carry out engineering work at the request of UNMISS. The bulk of these tasks are within the UN compounds in Malakal and Bentiu. They include the ongoing construction of a new Role 2 Hospital, the construction of accommodation units, the digging of culverts, the production of concrete paths and platforms, and the installation of HESCO bastion for force protection.

Read more about their engineering works here:

Keeping the peace: Upgrading defence in South Sudan

Construction work conducted by the UK taskforce in Bentiu, South Sudan.

4. Why is there a peacekeeping mission in South Sudan?

South Sudan is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa. It gained independence in 2011 after 25 years of brutal civil war. The conflict reopened in 2013 due to conflicts between the government and opposition forces. It is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world and suffers from an unstable environmental and political climate. 60% of the population experience food insecurity, while its population of 13 million people includes 2.2 million refugees and 1.9 million internally displaced.

As of 11th July 2019, there are 182,050 civilians in the 6 UN Protection of Civilian sites in South Sudan.

In 2011, the UN Security Council declared that the situation in South Sudan represented a continued threat to international peace and security and established the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan united in order to establish peace and conditions for development.

Find out where else the UK Armed Forces are deployed here: