By Liu Xiongma, Huang Liming and Chen Kengwu
BEIRUT, Aug. 21 -- On August 18, local time, the second batch of the 19th Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon arrived in Beirut. So far, 410 peacekeepers of the 19th Chinese peacekeeping contingent to Lebanon have all been deployed.
They will undertake one-year peacekeeping tasks including demining and explosive ordnance disposal, blue line piling, engineering construction and maintenance, sanitation and epidemic prevention, humanitarian rescue, and the sick and wounded site treatment and medical evacuation for United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
"At present, the security situation in Lebanon is very complicated due to multiple factors, which poses a severe test for our peacekeepers," said Jiang Sihang, the engineering staff of the Chinese peacekeeping contingent. Considering the mission's professionalism and particularity, the contingent immediately conducted an integrated inspection on the barrack after deployment. They debugged cameras, night vision devices and alarms at key positions and sentinel points, and maintained a 24-hour all-round combat readiness to ensure that the peacekeepers on duty can detect and deal with emergencies without delay.
At the same time, in response to the Beirut Explosion in Lebanon and local tensions, in order to effectively respond to possible emergencies, the 19th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to Lebanon organized an emergency drill on the second day after completing its deployment.
The scenario of the emergency defense drill was that the barrack was attacked by militants, which aimed to strengthen the awareness of safety precautions of peacekeepers and improve the team's emergency response capabilities.
It is reported that China has so far dispatched more than 6,500 peacekeepers to Lebanon since it first sent peacekeeping troops to the Middle East in April 2006.