UN peacekeepers freed from RUF clutches in raid at dawn

Major General Vijay Jetley, UN force commander, had reached Daru yesterday to supervise the operations. Incessant rain delayed the operation this morning as Indian Air Force attack helicopters could not take off as scheduled.

Last night naib subedar S.N. Sinha, the religious teacher of the 5/8 Gorkha Rifles battalion (Indbatt-1), had prayed for the operation to be successful. The ceremony was followed by shastra puja.

The British air force Chinook helicopters took off before first light and Major Harinder Sood and his team of para commandoes had reached Kailahun when dawn broke. The weather, however, had deteriorated. Though the attack helicopters could not take off as scheduled, the artillery opened up and 105-mm light field guns relentlessly pounded RUF strongholds at Kuiva and Mobai. The artillery cleared the way for the infantry to advance.

The British, keen to extricate their military observer, had provided their helicopters and C-130 transport aircraft to carry the UN forces to Daru, Kenema and beyond near Kailahun. Two companies of the 5/8 Gorkha Rifles were tasked to secure the Pendembu area where the 21 Indian peacekeepers were held hostage for almost two months. Pendembu also happens to be the brigade headquarters of the RUF.

The 18 Grenadiers battalion (Indbatt-2), which won laurels in the Kargil conflict last year, was deployed to secure the area around Kenema. The rebels, who have in the past attacked areas in and around Daru using mortars, were being kept at bay by the Ghanian and Nigerian battalions. Soldiers from the 11 Mechanised Infantry were given the job of securing the road stretch from Kailahun so that the rescued soldiers could be transported swiftly to safer locations. For the past two days supplies and stocks had been reaching Kenema, the battle sector headquarters.

Because of the bad weather all the UN peacekeepers at Kailahun managed to break through RUF lines and were advancing towards Pendembu. Led by Majors R.P. Punia and Sunil Nair, the peacekeepers charged through for freedom after the 75-day standoff with the RUF.

Moving swiftly on the road cleared by Grenadiers, the Gorkhas advanced to Kuiva earlier pounded by the artillery. Simultaneously, the 11 Mechanised Infantry cleared the road for troop movement till Benduma and the Ghanaian battalion advanced from Kenema to Mao junction. Dressed in combat fatigues, though weighed down by helmets and bullet-proof jackets, the soldiersadvanced through the slushy track, described as a road in this part of the country.

Though the troops succeeded in achieving total surprise initially and stole the initiative from the rebels, the RUF cadre regrouped and attacked the Indian forces near Gehun. “The RUF is armed with RPG and automatic weapons. Our army is advancing through thick undergrowth and bushes. The RUF are experts in bush warfare but so are we, considering our extended deployment in counter-insurgency situations,” an Indian battalion official said. Later in the day the attack helicopters took off and targeted RUF-dominated areas.

At Daru, Major R.S.Gabri, one of the rescued military observers, said the RUF were barbaric and had ransacked their homes. “Then we shifted withthe Indbatt and felt secure.” Major Andrew Harrison, a British military observer, said he felt “great about being back”. He also expressed his gratitude for the operations.

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) sent a 2,000-strong force after it became necessary to carry out a military operation to free the peacekeepers and military observers detained by the RUF at Kailahun since May 1.

“This operation is called Cassava because Cassava is a local plant which iseaten by the people here,” an officer at the sector headquarters told The Indian Express. The RUF had repeatedly turned down UN’s request to send food convoys to Kailahun. “Food and medicine stocks were really low, and despite all diplomatic and humanitarian pressure, the RUF was unrelenting. There was no alternative,” said an officer. The encircled peacekeepers and observers in Kailahun had sent distress signals to Freetown that they had food supply left only for two-three days.Tension was palpable at the headquarters with everybody waiting with bated breath for information on the operations. “The RUF are on the brink. Drugged and dazed. We are trying to get them to give up arms but rebel armies on drugs seldom see logic. We would hate any casualty in dealing with these people. The risk is double,” he added.

The encircled UNAMSIL personnel were from Bangaladesh, England, Gambia, Guinea, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Tanzania and Zambia.