A Spanish soldier deployed in Lebanon dies while practicing sports

MADRID, 18 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Corporal Pedro Serrano Arjona, 37 and a native of Córdoba, died of natural causes this Thursday while practicing sports at the Miguel de Cervantes Base in Marjayoun, in Lebanon, where he was deployed on a United Nations mission.

This has been reported by the Defense Staff in a statement in which it has expressed its deepest condolences, support and affection to the relatives and close friends of the deceased, who leaves a partner and two children.

The soldier had been deployed since May with the Spanish contingent in the United Nations Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Operations Command and the Lebanon Brigade are carrying out the necessary steps for his prompt repatriation.

Spain deployed for the first time in Lebanon in September 2006, under United Nations Resolution 1701, which extended and expanded a mission that began in 1978, with the aim of patrolling the south of the country and avoiding clashes between Lebanon and Israel, guaranteeing access humanitarian assistance to the civilian population, as well as accompanying and assisting the Lebanese Armed Forces.

The Spanish contingent came to have a maximum of 1,100 soldiers, but since 2012 there have been between 600 and 700 troops. However, the total number of Spanish soldiers who have been deployed during these fifteen years in Lebanon amounts to more than 10,000 soldiers, making it the third European country that has contributed the most troops to the peacekeeping mission. On the other hand, since the beginning of the mission, 15 Spanish soldiers have died in Lebanon.

Currently, personnel from 45 nations from the five continents participate in UNIFIL, totaling nearly 11,000 'blue helmets', and Indonesia being the country that contributes the most personnel with almost 1,300 soldiers, followed by Italy, with just over 1,000 troops.