United Nations: The commander of an all-women Indian UNpolice unit has arrived in Liberiato head the world body's first ever such specialized force sent on apeacekeeping operation.

Commander Seema Dhundiya, who heads the Formed Police Unit(FPU), arrived in the capital MonroviaSunday as part of an advance team that will pave the way for the landmarkdeployment of a 125-strong force this month.

With her came logistics and engineering specialists who willprepare for the rest of her unit, expected around Jan 29, said Ben DotseiMalor, spokesperson for the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

The FPU contingent will be made up of 103 women officers and22 male staff serving in logistic roles. The women will be formed into threeplatoons of 30 women each, comprising one platoon leader and 29 officers. Whilethe contingent will be based in Monrovia,they may be deployed anywhere in the country.

India'sdecision to send the all-women officers to assist the UNMIL operation wasannounced in September, and the team has been undergoing intensive trainingover the past few months.

The UN has had increasing success with FPUs over the pastfew years as a means of bridging the gap between regular and lightly armedpolice and fully armed blue helmets.

"The FPU, which will be better armed than a regular unit,will provide general support to UN police activities in Liberia, including protecting UNofficials and civilian police as they perform their duties. It will also act asa rapid reaction force for crowd control and help train local police officers,"the world body said.

The women's FPU represents further effort by the UN toattract women police officers into peacekeeping operations worldwide. As of2006-end, while there were 8,482 staff, only 454  around four percent  were women officers.