Ceremony for Vietnam’s second UN peacekeeping sapper unit in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

With 203 members, including 22 female sappers, the unit is expected to be sent to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

In the first phase, 28 members of the unit will depart in May 2023. Another 156 will set off in the second phase in the middle of June. The remaining members will continue receiving professional training in healthcare, logistics and English.

At the event, Deputy Minister of National Defence Hoang Xuan Chien, head of the ministry’s steering committee for participation in UN peacekeeping operations, urged relevant units to make preparations and organise more training courses before their deployment.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Viet Hung, head of the sapper unit 2, pledged to carry out directives from the Minister of Defence.

The country’s sapper unit 1 was established in 2014 and charged with a peacekeeping mission at the request of the UN.

It was launched on November 17, 2021 with 203 members, including 184 official and 19 reserve members. During its mission in Abyei, the unit has provided humanitarian aid, helping UN peacekeeping missions complete their tasks, contributing to peacekeeping, national reconstruction, and bringing about a peaceful, stable life to host countries.