BEIRUT, Sept. 1 -- On August 30, 62 members of the 21st Chinese peacekeeping multi-purpose engineer contingent to Lebanon passed the assessment conducted by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in just one try and obtained the certifications for mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) qualifications.
The qualification assessment covers more than 30 items in 13 subjects concerning mine clearance and explosive removal, such as mine detector debugging, signal source locating, mine excavation, minefield rescue, and unexploded ordnance disposal.
The examinations lasted three days, all the 56 mine-clearance peacekeepers and six medical staff passed the assessment given by a team of examiners from the UNMAS.
"Chinese mine clearance peacekeepers are superb in skills and have shown excellent performance. We are glad to have you here," said a UNMAS examiner after the assessment.
The 21st Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon was deployed to its mission area under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFL) on August 10. After obtaining the certifications, the Chinese mine sweepers will be dispatched to carry out humanitarian mine-clearing and EOD tasks at the minefields near the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.
