UNIFIL outreach peacekeepers from the Mission’s Military Community Outreach Unit (MCOU) organized an event in a public school in Aita ash-Shaab, south-western Lebanon, for children with disabilities earlier this month.

The “infotainment” event, organized by UNIFIL MCOU’s Italian and Indonesian peacekeepers, sought to raise awareness about the Mission’s mandate among the host population as well as to entertain the school’s children with disabilities.

Altogether, 60 students of 7 to 18 years of age participated. The school has about 350 students, out of which 135 are with disabilities.

UNIFIL peacekeepers showed short cartoons and presented “Blue Barrel family” depicting real Blue Barrels that dot the Blue Line. While doing so, they explained what the 120-km Blue Line is and why it’s important not to cross it. Indonesian peacekeepers also performed traditional cultural shows.

Between their core peacekeeping duties, UNIFIL peacekeepers regularly carry out various activities in support of and as requested by the host communities, which – together with their operational activities – have helped keep calm in the Mission’s area of operation for over 13 years.

MCOU are a small unit in UNIFIL made up of 25 military peacekeepers from Italy and Indonesia assisted by a small team of national staff. Their task is to engage with young people from across south Lebanon. MCOU visit schools, initiate conversations, answer questions and show how UNIFIL works for peace.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/unifil-outreach-peacekeepers-organize-%E2%80%98infotainment%E2%80%99-school-event

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col started a major afforestation campaign in the Mission’s area of operation in south-eastern Lebanon yesterday.

The plantation campaign, to be implemented by the Mission’s Indian peacekeepers, started from the main base of the UNIFIL Indian Battalion (INDBATT) in Ibl el-Saqi, and will continue until March-end.

Tree saplings will be planted in seven INDBATT positions as well as the villages of Kfar Hammam, Kfar Shouba and Shab’a, among others.

During the campaign, trees and saplings of pine, oranges, pomegranate and apple will be planted.

The afforestation drive seeks to build a cleaner and greener world as well as environmentally enriched Lebanon, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal number 15, which aims to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managed forests, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Besides its annual afforestation drives, UNIFIL has working to reduce environment footprints in the communities it serves. The mission has 21 high-capacity wastewater treatment plants, with the capacity to cater to almost 25,000 people within its area of operation in south Lebanon. Its five sludge treatment systems are used to process sewage in an environment-friendly manner. In addition, UNIFIL also has 15 solar plants, accounting for almost 5 per cent of the total energy consumption in the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/unifil-head-starts-afforestation-campaign

UNIFIL’s Italian and Finnish peacekeepers conducted a joint training with the aim of enhancing interoperability, reactivity and flexibility during joint operations while serving for peace in south Lebanon.

UNIFIL Sector West’s Mobile Reserve composed of Italian Army units trained with Finnish Army units of Force Commander’s Reserve during Familiarization of Deployment (FAMDEP) exercise in various locations in south-western Lebanon.

FAMDEP is a joint exercise programme between two UNIFIL contingents, where usually one sends a small group to the other’s base or the area of responsibility for a few days, during which both sides conduct various operational activities jointly.

Among the activities they conducted included joint patrols, joint live firing exercise, joint casualty evacuation, joint counter riot exercise and equipment display.

UNIFIL currently has more than 10,300 peacekeepers from 45 different countries serving for peace in south Lebanon and at sea. Many of these troops regularly carry out operational activities jointly with peacekeepers from different nationalities in a truly multinational environment.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/italian-and-finnish-peacekeepers-train-enhance-interoperability

UNIFIL Spanish peacekeepers held a memorial service last week in honour of Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo of the Spanish Army, who died in the line of duty five years ago while serving for peace in south-eastern Lebanon.

UNIFIL Sector East Commander Brigadier General Marcos Llago Navarro led the solemn ceremony held on 29 January at a UN position near Ghajar along the Blue Line, the exact location where the UNIFIL Spanish peacekeeper was killed in an artillery fire on 28 January 2015.

Corporal Toledo was a well-respected and dedicated peacekeeper actively working in supporting UNIFIL’s mandate under Security Council resolution 1701.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/fallen-spanish-peacekeeper-remembered

UNIFIL Finnish peacekeepers operating under the Mission’s Force Commander’s Reserve participated in a coordinated exercise with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in the southern Lebanese town of Kawkaba, located at the altitude of 750 metres from the sea level.

The inclement weather conditions did not deter them from carrying out an exercise, one of hundreds of such coordinated activities between the two forces.

First Lieutenant Hilal Saab of the LAF said: “The training that we are conducting today falls in the context of cooperation between UNIFIL and the LAF in operational, tactical, training and logistical matters, in addition to improving the level of coordination and cooperation with UNIFIL in order to build a unified communication language in implementing the tasks, where UNIFIL shared its expertise and knowledge with LAF to train its units.”

The coordinated exercise, conducted on 8 January in Hasbaya district of south Lebanon, brought together 20 participants, with 10 each from UNIFIL and the LAF 7^th Brigade.

UNIFIL Finnish Jaeger Company Commanding Officer, Major Liro Olsonen, said these coordinated trainings represent the core of UNIFIL’s mission and “we are proud to be able to exchange expertise with our strategic partners in the LAF.”

Coordinated trainings and exercises between UNIFIL and LAF lie at the core of the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1701, which forms the core of UNIFIL’s mandate. This stipulates strengthening LAF capacities, improving mutual coordination, and enhancing military exchanges and operational capabilities of both forces.

In 2019 alone, the number of such activities in both land and sea was 1,800, up from more than 1,500 in 2018.

UNIFIL currently has some 10,500 peacekeepers from 45 troop-contributing countries, where Finland contributes with 181 troops deployed in the UN peacekeeping mission operating in south Lebanon.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/unifil-finnish-peacekeepers-and-laf-coordinated-exercise

Ten militants and an Egyptian army officer were killed over the weekend in North Sinai, according to a statement issued on Sunday evening by Spokesperson for the Egyptian Armed Forces Colonel Tamer al-Rifaei.

Egypt managed to thwart a terrorist attack on a security base in North Sinai on Sunday, the statement clarified, which resulted in the deaths of 10 militants.

An officer with the Egyptian Armed Forces was also killed during the attack and another officer injured in the exchange of fire, the statement said, adding that the armed forces managed to destroy a four-wheel drive vehicle used by the militants.

Egypt’s armed forces are continuing to sweep the surrounding area in pursuit of other terrorist elements, the statement said, stressing that the military and police would efforts to eliminate violent extremism.

For years Egypt has battled an extremist insurgency in North Sinai, which is led by a local affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. Extremists have targeted military personnel at security checkpoints in the area as well as civilians. In November 2017, dozens of gunmen attacked a mosque in North Sinai’s Al-Rawda village during Friday prayers, killing over 300 people.

Earlier in February, suspected Islamic militants blew up a natural gas pipeline in North Sinai. Militants have regularly targeted gas pipelines between Egypt, Jordan, and Israel since Egypt’s 2011 uprising, according to a report from The Associated Press.

Just like much of UNIFIL troops of 45 nationalities, the UN Mission’s peacekeepers from Nepal conduct daily foot patrols that are critical in maintaining stability in south Lebanon.

Observing, monitoring and reporting the security situation on the ground, UNIFIL Nepalese peacekeepers conduct mixed-gender patrols in the village of Meiss Ej-Jebel.

Patrols, especially foot patrols such as this, play a pivotal role in enhancing UNIFIL’s visible presence on the ground, thereby serving as a confidence building tool for communities to feel secure, while also deterring potential threats. All of UNIFIL operational activities are coordinated with the Lebanese Armed Forces.

For Captain Sony Khadka, a female peacekeeper from Nepal, and patrol commander in this area of operation, monitoring and reporting is one of the most essential cores of patrolling.

“We conduct foot patrols every day along the Blue Line for a period of three hours, and when we see any suspicious activities in our area of operations, we report them to our battalion, while continuing to monitor the situation on the ground.”

Lieutenant Doctor Rakshya Bhandari emphasizes the main objective of these daily patrols.

“Patrolling is one of the most visible activities we have been doing in south Lebanon for many years, in order to implement the Mission’s mandate and the implementation of the Security Council Resolution 1701. Our patrols are vital and critical for the stability in (south) Lebanon and the region.”

UNIFIL patrols, conducted by UNIFIL’s military personnel, are the most visible component of the UNIFIL’s work in south Lebanon. The peacekeeping mission carries out some 450 activities every single day, holidays included.

Nepal is one of the 45 troop contributing countries of UNIFIL, with 870 peacekeepers on the ground serving for peace in this region since 1978. Their troops rotate every year.

UNIFIL’s some 10,400 peacekeepers serve for peace in south Lebanon and in the Lebanese territorial waters. Many of these troops regularly carry out operational activities jointly with peacekeepers from different nationalities in a truly multinational environment.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/unifil-peacekeepers-nepal-help-maintain-peace-along-blue-line 

UNIFIL peacekeepers from Italy, Republic of Korea and Malaysia conducted a five-day long training with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in the Chewakeer training base in Tyre, south Lebanon.

Innovative patrolling techniques, military hand-on-hand self-defense tactics and combat medical courses were among some of the main topics covered during the training programme that ran from 13 to 17 January 2020.

UNIFIL Italian trainers offered practical and theoretical workshops on patrolling techniques, which has been a core task of the Mission.

For UNIFIL instructor Haidi Al Attar, a Senior Corporal from the Italian Contingent, this training was key in enhancing the skills of the LAF.

“We are fully involved in the training with LAF,” he said. “Together, with our Malaysian and Korean colleagues, we are working on to enhance crucial tactical skills as well as the military capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces.”

Korean peacekeepers imparted knowledge on self-defense techniques that would be helpful in the event of real-world combat scenarios.

UNIFIL Malaysian peacekeeping instructors offered a special combat medic course designed to provide life-saving techniques required to operate in a combat theatre and respond to high risk situations.

Around 70 LAF personnel participated in the training.

UNIFIL’s peacekeeping training programmes are designed to provide the LAF with the knowledge on safest and most effective skills, techniques and tactics required during operational activities.

In 2006, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1701, which forms the core of UNIFIL’s mandate, to foster peace and stability in south Lebanon. One of the key priorities of this resolution is that the UN Mission supports the operations of the LAF while also building and enhancing its capacity on the ground.

In 2019 alone, UNIFIL peacekeepers conducted about 1,800 training activities or coordinated exercises with the LAF both on land and at sea.

Source: https://unifil.unmissions.org/korean-malaysian-and-italian-peacekeepers-offer-unique-training-programme-laf

UNIFIL naval peacekeepers, operating in the Lebanese territorial waters in support of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Navy, reached a historic milestone this month with 100,000 ships hailed since 2006.

The Maritime Task Force (MTF) reached the milestone on 5 January 2020 with the hailing of the Liberia-flagged container ship “MAIRA XL” off the coast of Beirut. Among the hailed ships, MTF referred more than 14,400 ships to the Lebanese authorities for further inspections.

According to the MTF Commander, Rear Admiral Eduardo Augusto Wieland, this mark denotes MTF efforts in the implementation of UNIFIL mandate, and the significant contribution of the “sailors of peace” or “Pacis Nautae” in Latin, since 2006.

As the UN Peacekeeping’s first and only major naval component, UNIFIL MTF was deployed on 15 October 2006 at the request of the Government of Lebanon. A total of 15 countries have contributed to the MTF, which currently has about more than 750 naval peacekeepers and six ships – one each from Bangladesh, Brazil, Germany, Greece, Indonesia and Turkey.

UNIFIL MTF supports the Lebanese Navy in preventing the unauthorized entry of arms or related materiel by sea into Lebanon. Its mission also focuses on assisting Lebanon raise its own naval forces to control and protect Lebanon’s seaways and territorial waters. In order to achieve that, MTF carries out a range of different training courses and coordinated exercises with the LAF Navy in order to prepare it to assume all duties required for maritime security, protecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and supporting economic investment.

Source https://unifil.unmissions.org/unifil-mtf-reaches-historic-milestone-100k-ships-hailed-2006