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India to withdraw over 3,000 troops from Sierra Leone
In a surprise move, India announced that it plans to withdraw its entire 3,000-strong contingent from the 13,000-member UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone, dealing another blow to the embattled mission trying to help restore peace after eight years of civil war.
In a surprise move, India announced that it plans to withdraw its entire 3,000-strong contingent from the 13,000-member UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone, dealing another blow to the embattled mission trying to help restore peace after eight years of civil war.
The announcement on Wednesday left the United Nations scrambling to find replacements for the Indians, who had the second-largest contingent in the mission after Nigeria, and appeared to delay even further plans for beefing up the force to 20,500 personnel.
India`s UN mission denied that criticism of the mission it headed or disputes between the Indian force commander and his Nigerian subordinates and other officials played any part in the decision to withdraw.
The announcement on Wednesday left the United Nations scrambling to find replacements for the Indians, who had the second-largest contingent in the mission after Nigeria, and appeared to delay even further plans for beefing up the force to 20,500 personnel.
India`s UN mission denied that criticism of the mission it headed or disputes between the Indian force commander and his Nigerian subordinates and other officials played any part in the decision to withdraw.
The head of the Nigerian Army had called for Maj. Gen. Vijay Jetley to resign after he reportedly accused Nigerian officers of undermining the UN mission and profiting from Sierra Leone`s diamond deposits in a memo published by two newspapers.
Bureau Report