Office of Military Affairs

Brigadier General Yakhya Diop of Senegal is the Officer-in-Charge for the Office of Military Affairs, Department of Peace Operations. He brings to this position more than 25 years of military leadership experience spanning command, strategic planning, military education, and international peace operations.

Prior to his current appointment, Brigadier General Diop served in a range of command and senior staff positions within the Senegalese Armed Forces. He commanded the Commando Battalion from 2015 to 2017, following his service as its Deputy Commander. He also led the Training and Education Division at the Armed Forces General Headquarters and served as Commandant of the Senegalese National Military Academy. Earlier in his career, he was a platoon leader, company commander, infantry instructor, and officer responsible for cadet training at the Military Academy.

Brigadier General Diop has extensive international operational experience. His deployments include service with the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) as a Company Commander, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) as a Staff Officer at Force Headquarters, and the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) as a Task Force Commander. These assignments have provided him with significant experience at the operational and strategic levels in multinational peace operations.

Brigadier General Diop graduated from the Senegalese National Officers Academy (ENOA). He holds a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, where he graduated as a Superior Graduate of the Class of 2018.