Washington, Sept 25: The United States has sent troops to strife-torn ivory coast to protect US citizens, including about 160 schoolchildren trapped in a rebel-held
city.
About 200 US Special Forces will go directly to the West
African nation and military personnel and aircraft are to be
placed in neighboring Ghana for a possible evacuation, US
officials said yesterday.
"At the request of the American ambassador to the ivory
Coast, the European command intends to move forces there to
ensure the safety of our American citizens," said lieutenant
commander Don Sewell, a US navy spokesman.
"The purpose is to go there and assist in moving
American citizens from the International Christian Academy,
where they are, to a safe location, still within ivory coast,"
Sewell said.
The dispatch order was given as Ivorian troops attacked
mutineers in the central city of Bouake, where some 170
foreign schoolchildren, including the US students, are
trapped.
About 1,000 foreigners live in Bouake, the country's
second largest city. In addition to the US children who board
at the school, there are about a dozen from Canada and The
Netherlands.
According to the navy spokesman, the move by US troops
did not equate to an evacuation.
Late yesterday, the US state department issued a travel warning to US citizens urging them to "defer travel" to Ivory Coast at this time.
Bureau Report
