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.
