Alghero, the return of the Sassari from Lebanon. General Messina: «We have never felt alone»

Return amidst emotion and applause , tonight at the airport of Alghero , for the 80 Sassari veterans from the mission in southern Lebanon . As soon as they disembarked shortly after midnight from the Boeing 767 of the Air Force , on which they had departed from Beirut, the soldiers were welcomed by the highest civil and military authorities, from the president of the Region Alessandra Todde to the prefect Grazia La Fauci to the mayors of Sassari Giuseppe Mascia and Alghero Raimondo Cacciotto, and by hundreds of relatives.

The mission in which the Brigade assumed command of the Italian contingent and the western sector of Unifil lasted six months, in a high-tension scenario due to the conflict between the Israeli army and the territorial militias and which on November 22 had caused the minor wounding of four Sardinian soldiers. "We had no casualties - commented the general of the Sassari Brigade Stefano Messina - and this is attributable to the training, to our protection measures which were adequate even in an extreme context like the one we experienced". The number of Italian soldiers present in the region was approximately one thousand, 500 instead were from Sassari, 400 of whom will return in the next few days at the end of a mission which began on August 2.

The task of the Sassari Brigade was to monitor violations, to support the Lebanese armed forces, to help the Lebanese civilian population "who are exhausted by years of conflict", Messina reports. "We have never felt alone, we have felt the closeness of all the military commands, of the political, national and regional authorities. We have always felt supported and I have to thank everyone". Emotion and tears among the soldiers and their families. "I was scared - comments the girlfriend of a Sassari - but if he is happy living this career I will support him". "We have always been in contact - adds the wife of a soldier - and he told me to stay calm even in the most difficult moments". Now the command of the "Leonte" operation belongs to the "Pozzuolo del Friuli" brigade, after the handover of power in recent days.