JI'NAN, China, May 17 (ChinaMil) -- The 190-strong first echelon of the 6th Chinese peacekeeping force to Mali departed from Ji'nan Yaoqiang International Airport in Ji'nan, capital city of eastern China's Shandong Province for the west African nation on May 16.
The 6th Chinese peacekeeping force to Mali consists of a 170-member guard detachment, a 155-member engineering detachment and a 70-member medical detachment.
The 177 peacekeeping guards and 155 peacekeeping engineers are from the PLA 80th Group Army. The 70 persons of the medical detachment are mainly from a military hospital under the PLA's Shenyang Joint Logistics Support Center.
The 395 Chinese peacekeepers will stay in Mali for 12 months to perform peacekeeping tasks of security defense, infrastructure maintenance and medical service entrusted by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
