Original title: Global Connection | Youth, blooming on the front line of peacekeeping
Xinhua News Agency, Dakar, August 1st. On the land of West Africa, the sun is scorching hot and the heat waves are rolling. Exposure to 47 degrees Celsius air, the skin has a burning sensation. The construction machinery was rumbling, and Zhang Xuyang, who was standing not far away, was observing the command.
Soldiers of the Menaka detachment of the Chinese peacekeeping engineer detachment to Mali are helping Niger friendly troops build air defense bunkers in the camp of the Niger Infantry Battalion of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). They have to keep their nerves tight while working with composure.
In October 2021, the ninth batch of China’s peacekeeping engineer detachment to Mali sent a contingent of 38 officers and soldiers to Menaka, which is more than 300 kilometers away from the Chinese engineer peacekeeping camp. First Sergeant Zhang Xuyang is this detachment. A platoon leader.
Menaka is an important military town under the jurisdiction of the MINUSMA East Theater. It is located in the border area between Mali and Niger. There are frequent violent terrorist attacks, armed infiltration attacks, curved firearm attacks, and improvised explosive attacks. The security situation is extremely severe.
Early one morning, a shrill roar of rockets pierced the sky above the Menaka camp. “Curved firearm strike, covert!” The duty sentry immediately sounded the alarm and shouted on the walkie-talkie.
Immediately afterwards, a rocket hit the side of a board house in the camp, and the blast shock wave caused the explosion-proof sandbox in the bunker to shake violently. Zhang Xuyang was calm in the face of danger, and immediately used the walkie-talkie to direct his comrades into the bunker, gathered and counted the personnel, stabilized the thoughts of the personnel, and completed a briefing within 3 minutes.
Zhang Xuyang at work.Video screenshot
Facing the unfamiliar environment and complex security situation overseas, the Chinese peacekeepers in the contingent did not flinch. During the 10-month mission, the contingent successfully completed dozens of engineering tasks assigned by the United Nations, such as bunker construction, road repair, and prefabricated house erection, winning high praise from United Nations officials and friendly forces from various countries.
After the completion of a construction task, Brigadier General Stephen Anderson, commander-in-chief of the Eastern Theater Command of MINUSMA, made a special trip to the camp of the Chinese engineer detachment to express his high affirmation of the professionalism and professionalism of the Chinese peacekeepers and thank them for their outstanding contributions to the cause of peace in Mali. contribute. “As each of us has seen, every soldier in the Chinese engineer company is an ambassador of peace from China,” he said.
For the praise and affirmation of all parties, Luo Huazhao, a soldier of the ninth batch of Chinese peacekeeping engineers in Mali, said in an interview with a reporter from Xinhua News Agency: “We will continue to work hard to complete the tasks assigned by the United Nations and show the image of the Chinese army with practical actions. , to contribute more Chinese power to the local cause of peace.” (Reporter: Wang Zizheng; Reporters: Shao Xuchang, Wang Hongyang; Editing: Wang Yujue; Editors: Wang Kewen, Ma Xiao, Ma Xiaoyan)
Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency
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