First Chinese peacekeeping taskforce to Mali is ready

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First Chinese peacekeeping taskforce to Mali is ready

(China Military Online) 09:23, October 18, 2013

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BEIJING, October 17 (ChinaMil) -- The first Chinese peacekeeping taskforce of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to Mali is fully prepared in personnel, equipment, materials and so on, as reporter learned from the Peacekeeping Affairs Office under the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC)on October 16, 2013.

The peacekeeping taskforce comprises an engineer detachment, a guard detachment and a medical detachment, totaling 395 people. This is the first time for the PLA to dispatch security force to take part in the UN's peacekeeping operations.

After a field visit and inspection of the Chinese peacekeeping taskforce which will be sent to Mali, Hervé Ladsous, UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, stated that it is not an easy task to carry out peacekeeping operations in Mali. Since Mali has been in anarchic state for a long period of time, the peacekeeping troops will face serious asymmetric threat. It is believed that after the high-quality Chinese peacekeeping troops are deployed in place, they will play an important role in recovering peace in Mali. "I want to express gratitude to China on behalf of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for its sending peacekeeping troops," said Hervé Ladsous.

（Editor：YanMeng、Yao Chun）