More than 200 soldiers from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces will participate in United States-backed multinational military exercises in Kampong Speu province in May alongside troops from US Army Pacific and three unidentified countries, military officials said yesterday.

The 13-day exercise, called Angkor Sentinel 2011, aims to train soldiers for United Nations peacekeeping missions, and was announced at a US-based Global Peace Operations Initiative conference in Phnom Penh.

Brigadier General Ken Sosavoeun of the Institute for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance said yesterday that the exercises would be held from May 16-28 at the RCAF Peacekeeping Training Centre.

“The army training exercise is aimed at preparation for sending forces to join United Nations missions and such an army training exercise is not related to firing any weapons,” he said.

United States Army Pacific representative Colonel Robert Dunton said that 135 US troops would provide security and complete United Nations humanitarian work such as building hospitals, schools, bridges, and providing Cambodian citizens with free vaccinations.