A second Chinese engineering battalion headed for Lebanon on
Monday to join the UN peacekeeping mission there.
A total of 143 peacekeepers took a UN chartered flight on Monday
evening from Kunming, capital of southwest Yunnan Province, to
replace the first engineering battalion deployed from the same
military command in April 2006.
The second engineering battalion comprises of 275 personnel as
well as a medical team consisting of 60 members. The rest of the
battalion will leave for Lebanon in February.
During its eight-month term, the first team were honored by the
UN for their contribution to the mission.
China has sent 6,000 military personnel to participate in 16 UN
peacekeeping operations since it began to participate in UN
peacekeeping operations in the 1990s.
Eight Chinese peacekeepers have died and dozens have been
wounded in the line of duty.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)
