Cooperation, interoperability and coordination: these are the fundamental parameters on which the training activity conducted in recent days by the Italian Blue Helmets, of the Italian maneuver battalion (ITALBATT) in the West Sector UNIFIL, held in close collaboration with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) near Tire.
The activity, in white, lasting a week, saw the Italian soldiers train with their Lebanese colleagues in the use of the 120 mm mortar, a curved shot weapon supplied to the Italian Army, with particular reference to the mapping of the objectives , the firing calculations and the use of the mortar itself.
The training session ended with the delivery of the Certificates to the Lebanese colleagues by the commander of ITALBATT (based on the Serenissima lagoon regiment), Colonel Claudio Guaschino.
The joint activity (operational and training) with the Lebanese Armed Forces is foreseen by the UN resolution 1701 and is part of the tasks assigned to UNIFIL Blue Helmets with the aim of achieving the increase of interoperability and the improvement of capabilities. of LAF and UNIFIL staff. These activities are conducted daily, including with joint patrols along the Blue Line (demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel) and in the entire Area of Operation between the Litani River in the north and the Blue Line in the south.
The Italian mission in Lebanon is currently led by a cavalry brigade Pozzuolo del Friuli, in his sixth term in the Land of the Cedars with the colors of the United Nations, and is responsible for the West Sector of UNIFIL in which 3800 UN peacekeepers operate from 16 of the 46 contributing countries to the UN mission and of which about 1.000 Italian soldiers are part of.
The Italian Blue Helmets operate in Lebanon with impartiality and transparency, close to the Blue Line (blue line), demarcation line with Israel, to ensure stability in the area for over 15 years, monitoring the cessation of hostilities, assisting and supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and providing support to the local population.
