The head of mission and commander of UNIFIL, division general Luciano Portolano, participated in a continuous fire exercise carried out by the Maritime Task Force (MTF) on 30 and 31 May 2016 at about 50 nautical miles from the Lebanese coast, on board the flagship Brazilian "Independencia".
To the exercise, directed by Admiral Claudio Mello De Almeida of the Brazilian Navy, which holds the leadership of the MTF since February 2011, five of the seven ships that make up the MTF took part, in particular the Brazilian frigate "Independencia", the "Ali Haider" and the "Nirmul" of Bangladesh, the German "Braunschweig" and the "Bung Tomo "Indonesian. Aimed at increasing the interoperability of naval assets of different nationalities and keeping the units at the highest levels of operational readiness, the exercise was developed in three salient moments: the night approach to the exercise area, the taking of training, during which honors were paid to the head of the mission and commander of the force by the units undergoing training, and the firing activity with the on-board armament.
In greeting the crews on radio links, the Portolano general general praised every single sailor for "the professionalism and competence demonstrated and for the dedication and passion lavished daily in the performance of his task, a true success factor for the helmets blue.
The MTF, the commander of UNIFIL underlined, is “one of the essential pillars to ensure full compliance with United Nations resolution 1701 and the maintenance of regional stability; a singular capability of the mission which, in ensuring the monitoring and surveillance of the maritime operation area and the precious contribution to the training and capacity development of the Lebanese naval force, constitutes a multiplier of the credibility and effectiveness of the work of the more than 11000 peacekeepers, civil and military, of 40 nations deployed in southern Lebanon.
National contribution
Italy holds, for the third time in recent years, the command of the UNIFIL mission with division general Luciano Portolano, appointed on July 24, 2014, succeeding the general of division Paolo Serra, confirming a great professionalism of the leadership Italian military appreciated internationally.
Italy participates in the international mission with a contingent of about 1100 soldiers. At national level the operation is called "Leonte".
The Brigadier General of the Army Arturo Nitti, from 18 April 2016 is in command of the West Sector of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon - SW) and of the Joint Task Force Italian in Lebanon (JTF-L), mainly composed of soldiers from the “Sassari” brigade, stationed in Sardinia.
A component of the military police of the Carabinieri Corps (located at the base of Shama).
There is also a component of the Army aviation ("ITALAIR" Task Force) consisting of AB-212 helicopters, with tasks of medical evacuation, reconnaissance, search, rescue and connection, based in Naqoura, employed by the commander of UNIFIL.
