Indian mission in Sierra Leone to continue

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, JULY 16. India will continue to take part in peacekeeping in Sierra Leone, despite being drawn in a military duel with rebel forces to free the encircled Indian peacekeepers in the strife-torn west African State.

Addressing a press conference on the successful U.N. military operations to break the cordon imposed by Sierra Leone's rebel forces, the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, pointed out that New Delhi was not seeking a change in the peacekeeping mandate of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). Indian forces, however, had the right to self-defence if resisted by the Sierra Leone's rebel forces. India did not have any larger ``strategic objectives'' in Sierra Leone and its involvement in the peacekeeping there was an expression of its solidarity with Africa, he observed.

Mr. Singh said the operation to extricate the 221 mainly Indian U.N. peacekeepers who had been encircled by the breakaway Revolutionary United Front (RUF) hadconcluded. Most of these troops were on their way to U.N. military base of Daru in eastern Sierra Leone. As many as 40 U.N. peacekeepers including 11 U.N. observers were airlifted on Saturday. The airlift was carried out by a single flight of two British Chinook helicopters with extensive air support provided by Mi-8 helicopters of the Indian Air Force. Permission for the operation was personally given by the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.

The military strike, codenamed ``Operation Khukri'', revolved round smashing the RUF stronghold of Pendembu through a coordinated pincer assault. Pendembu, where around 1,000 RUF rebels were entrenched, was attacked by road from the base area of Daru in the South. Mechanised columns including armoured troops carriers were widely used so that the 72 km distance to Pendembu could be speedily covered. Pendembu was also hit from the rear from the area around Kailahun in the northeast where the 221 peacekeepers had been trapped.

Around 300 Indian troops including an element of para-commandos were dropped by the IAF Mi-8 helicopters at three locations. These forces, having secured the release of the peacekeepers at Kailahun, sought to establish a link-up with the advancing ground troops. They succeeded in teaming up at Pendembu at 4 p.m. Sierra Leone time yesterday. The IAF's attack helicopters were also prominently used to prevent reinforcements from reaching the rebels who had been isolated at Pendembu.

Military operations to free the peacekeepers were intricately planned before they were launched at 6 a.m. local time on Saturday. An air and logistics base was set up at Kenema, southwest of Daru. Reserves of troops belonging to the 18 grenadiers were also built up at Daru to ensure speedy reinforcements, if required. Operation Khukri was personally supervised by the U.N. force commander, Major General V.K. Jetly, from Daru and thereafter from Geihun.

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