Brigadier Gen General Giovanni Burafa of the UNIFIL Sector West Commander (third left) reads display boards in a minefield near the Blue Line in southern Lebanon on September 4. (Photo by Li Zhulin/Xinhua)
By Zhang Zhe and Li Zhulin
BEIJING, Sep. 7 – Brigadier General Giovanni Burafa, Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Sector West, and Chief of Staff Colonel Alberto Nola visited a minefield assigned to the 21st Chinese Peacekeeping Troops to UNIFIL on September 4.
BG Burafa and Col. Nola listened to the briefing given by the contingent on their demining operations. Then accompanied by Yan Xiaoliang, commander of Chinese Peacekeeping Troops to UNIFIL, they entered the minefield to have a site inspection.
"Every yellow wooden stake represents an anti-infantry mine removed," Yan said when walking in the minefield cleared. "In the past 17 years, batches of Chinese demining operators accomplished various tasks, having created and maintained the records of zero accidents and zero casualties."
"Demining operations are very dangerous, but Chinese operators are highly professional," said Burafa, adding that the Chinese demining contingent is worthy of trust, and its contributions to the peace and stability in southern Lebanon are appreciated.
Since its deployment into the mission area, the 21st Chinese peacekeeping multi-role engineering company to UNIFIL has cleared minefields of more than 14,000 square meters and removed more than 2,000 mines.
Brigadier General Giovanni Burafa of the UNIFIL Sector West Commander (second right, front row) inspects a mine detector in a minefield near the Blue Line in southern Lebanon on September 4. (Photo by Li Zhulin/Xinhua)
Brigadier General Giovanni Burafa of the UNIFIL Sector West Commander (middle) inspects debris of destroyed mines in a minefield near the Blue Line in southern Lebanon on September 4. (Photo by Li Zhulin/Xinhua)
