India's decision to pull out its troops from UN peacekeeping in Sierra Leone would make it harder to increase the force to 20,500 as requested by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. “The Indian troops were among the best trained, equipped and motivated in Sierra Leone. It is a loss to see them leaving,” Bernard Miyet, the head of UN peacekeeping, said at the United Nations on Friday. India announced this week that it intended to withdraw its 3,059 troops, who make up almost one-quarter of the forces deployed strength of 12,447.
Miyet, under-secretary-general in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, told a news conference at the United Nations that the chain of command in the civil war torn country must be shaken up because officers had been psychologically burned and morale was low.
“The pressure had been particularly strong on the force commander, Major General Vijay Jetley, of India. Earlier this month, Nigeria demanded Jetley's dismissal over a leaked memo in which he accused Nigerian political and military officials in the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) of colluding with rebel forces.
Bureau Report