5th Chinese peacekeeping military utility helicopter unit returns from Abyei in northern Africa

The first batch of the 5th Chinese Peacekeeping Military Utility Helicopter Unit to the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) arrived in north China's Tianjin on Thursday after successfully completing a 12-month-long peacekeeping mission.

The unit mainly consists of troops from a brigade of the 81st Group Army under the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Central Theater Command and was deployed to Abyei, a territory contested by Sudan and South Sudan, in January 2025.

Throughout the year, the team carried out a wide range of missions, including troop transportation and withdrawal, passenger and cargo transport, aerial patrols, battlefield search-and-rescue, aerial resupply drops, and medical evacuation. The unit logged over 2,600 flight hours and flew nearly 500,000 kilometers in total.

The unit also engaged in humanitarian activities in the region, visiting local schools and hospitals and providing free medical services to over 200 local residents and UN employees, earning widespread trust and praise from the local community.

The unit was awarded the United Nations (UN) Peace Medals, a significant award established by the UN to recognize outstanding contributions to global peace, and represents the highest honor bestowed upon peacekeepers.

The second batch of the unit is scheduled to return to China in mid-January.

5th Chinese peacekeeping military utility helicopter unit returns from Abyei in northern Africa

The United States and Israel have destroyed or damaged 763 schools alongside hundreds of thousands of other civilian sites across Iran since they launched joint attacks against the Middle East country on Feb 28, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).

A total of 22,810 commercial units, 322 health and medical centers, 18 scientific and academic institutions, and 20 Red Crescent facilities have been damaged, IRCS President Pirhossein Kolivand said on Saturday.

Emergency response equipment, including three helicopters, 46 ambulances, and 48 operational vehicles, was also affected, he added.

According to Kolivand, four Red Crescent responders and two pregnant women have been killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks, with 18 emergency personnel injured.

He noted that 24 medical workers have been killed and 116 others injured.

The United States and Israel have also targeted Khuzestan petrochemical facilities, the Shalamcheh border trade terminal, Shahid Beheshti University science labs, and residential homes, the Red Crescent official said.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran has responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets in the Middle East.

U.S.-Israeli strikes hit 763 Iranian schools: Red Crescent Society