BEIRUT, Jun. 20 (ChinaMil) -- Scorching summer heat hits Lebanon in June, and the "Blue Line" between Israel and Lebanon delineated by the UN is a complex geographical environment full of mines. On June 18, the 18th Chinese peacekeeping multifunctional engineer contingent to Lebanon, including the first batch of female demining operators Yang Yixin, Lu Yanhong and Zhang Huajie, went to a new “Blue Line” minefield on the Lebanon and Israel border, to implement demining operations assigned by the United Nations.
The female demining operators are familiar with the international standard mine-sweeping procedures after receiving their stringent training, such as trip-wire processing, vegetation area clearing, signal source positioning, comprehensive excavation, and mine marking, etc.
Zhang Cunning, the on-site mine-clearing supervisor, said that initially the female soldiers found mine-clearing training very challenging because of their lack of physical strength, but they pushed themselves very hard during the training and passed the examination for mine-clearing qualification certification at a stroke. Now, they are fully capable of performing mine-clearing operations independently, "and have advantages over their male counterparts in being more cautious and careful ".
Zhang Huajie, a female demining operator, said that in the over-three-month training of six days a week, they had to operate various kinds of equipment, wearing heavy protective clothing, and were used to blood blisters on their palms.
When asked "why you choose to participate in peacekeeping operations as a female soldier, in particular, carrying out dangerous mine-clearing missions", the female mine-sweeper Lu Yanhong said firmly: "There is no difference between males and females on the battlefield. It is our glorious mission to carry out the UN peacekeeping missions."
Lu Yanhong is the only female demining operator among the three soldiers who has participated in the construction of the “Standby Peacekeeping Engineer Company”. She has successfully passed the assessment and proven herself qualified for combat positions.
The three female demining operators are all from an engineer chemical defense brigade of the PLA 75th Group Army, which has selected over ten female soldiers to form a mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) squad. In a bid to forge more outstanding female demining operators, high levels of training were given to the squad to meet the challenges of effective force on overseas peacekeeping battlefield.