CHANGCHUN, June 9, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Shen Mingming (C), elder brother of Chinese UN peacekeeping soldier Shen Liangliang, escort the coffin of Shen Liangliang to the hearse at Longjia Airport in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, June 9, 2016. The body of Shen Liangliang, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Mali last month, arrived in northeast China's Changchun City on Thursday afternoon. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)
CHANGCHUN, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The body of Chinese UN peacekeeping soldier Shen Liangliang, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Mali last month, arrived in northeast China's Changchun City on Thursday afternoon.
Around 3 p.m. Beijing time, a Chinese air force plane carrying Shen's body arrived at Longjia Airport in Changchun, Jilin Province, where Shen served in the army for 11 years.
The plane took off on Wednesday local time from Bamako, capital of Mali. It was sent by China's Central Military Commission (CMC) to bring Shen's body home.
The 29-year-old sergeant first class was killed in a terrorist attack on the night of May 31 in the northern Malian town of Gao, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at a United Nations camp.
Another five Chinese peacekeepers were injured.
Shen's coffin, covered with a Chinese flag, was carried out of the plane by eight honor guards. Another honor guard who held Shen's portrait walked in front of the coffin.
With music played by a military band, the eight honor guards slowly put Shen's coffin on top of a white platform, and two female soldiers laid a white wreath on it.
Shen's mother Yang Qiuhua, who was too heartbroken to stand up, sat on a wheelchair among high-ranking officers, hiding her face with the left hand, bursting into tears loudly, with Shen's father Shen Tianguo standing beside her.
About 500 officers, civilian officials and soldiers at the airport took off their hats, making three bows to salute the sacrificed soldier.
"Shen's sacrifice showed the heroic spirit and bravery of Chinese soldiers," Yi Xiaoguang, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of CMC, said at a simple ceremony at the airport.
"Peace-loving people around the world will never forget, the motherland and Chinese people will never forget, the whole army will never forget," Yi said, calling on all servicemen to contribute to safeguarding national sovereignty and peace worldwide.
A soldier handed over Shen's portrait to Shen Mingming, Shen's elder brother, and the eight honor guards again lifted the coffin, following Shen Mingming and putting the coffin into a hearse.
Shen will be buried in his hometown in central China's Henan Province.
Yang Zhancheng, one of the five Chinese soldiers injured in the deadly attack, was also brought back to China for further medical treatment on Thursday aboard the CMC plane.
Shen Liangliang was born to an ordinary rural family in central China's Henan Province. His parents, who are both farmers, gave birth to two sons and one daughter. Shen was their youngest.
He gave his parents a surprise during the Spring Festival holiday when he brought his girlfriend home. His mother, Yang Qiuhua, dreamed of seeing her youngest son get married and having a grandchild, until she learned of the deadly attack in the news and feared the worst when Shen did not reply to a message she sent to his phone.
The attack came just 11 days after Shen arrived in the mission region as a member of the fourth batch of Chinese peacekeepers in Mali. He applied for the mission three times.
"I want to voice appreciation for my squad leader, but I cannot do it now," said Qiao Zhi, a soldier in the 16th Corps of the People's Liberation Army, where Shen served. "He helped me overcome many difficulties when I was just enlisted and integrate into the army."
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MINUSMA honors Chinese peacekeeper killed in Mali terror attack
BAMAKO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on Tuesday honoured Chinese peacekeeper Shen Liangliang who died in a terrorist attack on May 31 at a UN mission camp in Gao, northern Mali.
"We are here to pay final homage to a UN peacekeeper, who had come to restore peace and stability in Mali. This soldier is First Sergeant Shen Liangliang from the Chinese contingent of MINUSMA. A soldier who was killed on May 31 by people who neither believe in any law or faith, during a terrorist attack at a MINUSMA camp in Gao," Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of MINUSMA said during the memorial ceremony held at the UN mission's headquarters. Full story
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On Tuesday, one peacekeeper from China was killed and a dozen UN personnel were injured when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at a United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) camp, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters here. Full story
