A captain in the Armed Forces of Malta has returned from Lebanon where he was attached to the Italian contingent serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Italy is the largest single troop contributing nation to UNIFIL.

Captain Neville Galea Roberts' operational two-month deployment was made possible through the Italian Military Mission in Malta.

The AFM said it enabled this young AFM officer to gain operational civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) experience in the field ahead of his taking up of the Malta post on the EU Military Staff.

CIMIC is the military branch with the lead responsibility for interactions with civil society and authorities at all levels during the conduct of military operations. The CIMIC branch is divided into two main fields, namely Liaison, and Plans and Projects.

Capt. Roberts was primarily employed on plans and projects, both in the Joint Task Force Sector West Brigade Headquarters in Tibnin, Lebanon, as well as at the Multinational Force Headquarters in Naqoura, Lebanon. He described the experience as a positive and rewarding experience, both for himself and for the AFM.

He explained at a press conference this morning that his work included monitoring the work on a new Italian-funded hospital in the South of Lebanon, the project management of the refurbishments of a remotely-located school and the planning of infrastructure works in a community that was targeted during the war in 2006.