21st Libre Hidalgo

Marjayoun, 23.05.2014

COMMANDER: Brigadier Andrés Chapa Huidobro

The Brigade “Lebanon XXI” (BRILIB XXI) has completed its deployment in the area of operations.

The Cavalry Brigade “Castillejos II” (BRC II) leads for the fourth time the Operation “Libre Hidalgo” in the Lebanon; on this occasion its members make up 85% of the contingent. It is supported by personnel from the Army and the Civil Guard, as well as around 50 soldiers from the Salvadorian Army and some 150 more from Serbia. All in all, the XXI “Libre Hidalgo” Brigade is composed of nearly 560 troops which will be integrated into the Multinational Brigade Sector East (MNB SECEAST) of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

On 21 May 2014 the “Libre Hidalgo XXI” Brigade (BRILIB XXI) began its mission in Lebanon to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Approximately 560 soldiers relieved the units and troops of BRILIB XX at the base “Miguel de Cervantes”, which is located in the Marjayoun District – almost 4,000 km away from Spain. With the Transfer of Authority Ceremony, BRILIB XXI took the lead of UNIFIL’s MNB SECEAST.

Command and control of the whole UN operation in the Eastern sector of the southern strip of Lebanon, which extends from the Litani River to the Blue Line which separates the country from Israel, is exercised from the General HQ of the Multinational Brigade. The bulk of the latter is composed by Spanish soldiers, but it also includes units from Indonesia, Nepal, India, Malaysia, El Salvador and Serbia. Around 3,400 soldiers make up this truly multinational brigade under UN command, led by Spain since 2006.

MNB SECEAST battalions fulfil a critical operational mission under the command of the UN. Deployed in different positions within the area of responsibility of the Brigade, they carry out patrols and man permanent observation posts to guarantee the observance of the cessation of hostilities and support and assist the Lebanese Armed Forces in its control of the area between the Litani River and the Blue Line negotiated with Israel as the line of separation between the two countries but which does not still constitute an international border.

Within the Multinational Brigade, the Light Protected Tactical Group constitutes the Spanish Battalion (SPANBATT). Its members come from the 11th Light Armoured Cavalry Regiment “España” (RLAC 11, by its Spanish acronym). However, that Group includes a Serbian company and a section of the Salvadorian army as well as the Spaniards, and members of RLAC 11 also form the Light Armoured Section. SPANBATT is deployed at sensitive points very close to the Blue Line and its task is crucial: On the security and stability of that area depends to a great extent the success of the mission and the pacification of this region of the Middle East.