M A I N   N E W S

Troops in Sierra Leone to stay
170 peacekeepers airlifted to safety
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, July 16 — India today ruled out its withdrawal from the United Nations peacekeeping duties in Sierra Leone and any change in role of its troops from peacekeeping to peace enforcers.

Briefing newspersons about the military operation “Khukri” in the west African nation yesterday conducted by the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army, the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, said India was not going to seek any alteration in the UN mandate to change the role of the troops from peacekeepers to peace enforcers.

There was no question of India withdrawing from the UN operations, he said giving details of the military operation in Sierra Leone which began at 0600 hrs (local time) at Daru yesterday and ended by 1600 hrs with the capture of Pendembu.

In the operations two Indian soldiers suffered shrapnel injuries but were out of danger, the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lt- Gen-N.C. Vij, said.

Gen Vij said the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels suffered heavy losses in the operation. Indian troops also recovered a large number of weapons and ammunition.

The External Affairs Minister said India by participating in the UN peacekeeping effort was only maintaining the tradition it had set. During the last 50 years it had taken part in 33 such campaigns, including Congo and Somalia in Africa where too it had faced difficulties.

UNAMSIL Force Commander Maj Gen V K Jetley personally supervised “Operation Khukri” which was complex as it involved securing a link up between the Indian columns from Daru and Kailahun at a midway place in Pendembu, Gen Vij said.

More than 1100 men of the 18 Grenadiers and 5/8 Gorkha Rifles besides one team of para commandos and mechanised infantry elements were used in the operation. The Indian Air Force played a predominant part pressing in three attack helicopters, 3 MI-8 support choppers and 4 Cheetah helicopters.

FREETOWN (AP): Nearly 170 UN peacekeepers were airlifted by helicopter to safety late on Sunday while troops assisting the dramatic two-day UN rescue operation inched out of rebel territory by road, a senior UN official said.

The air evacuation from the eastern Sierra Leone town of Pendembu to nearby UN controlled Daru came as U.N. troops provided cover against rebels who fired intermittently at the peacekeepers, Indian Maj Anthanarayan Arun said, adding the UN force was treating the gunshots as “nothing serious.”