Nearly 200 Indian peacekeepers reached a UN base in eastern Sierra Leone yesterday after being rescued from more than two months under rebel siege, the UN force commander said.
Maj-Gen Vijay Jetley said in Daru the UN had brought out all the 222 peacekeepers besieged at their camp in Kailahun in an operation launched on Saturday.
Five UN personnel were injured when the convoy was attacked by rebels on the 80 km road from Kailahun to Daru.
Maj-Gen Jetley suggested that after the rescue of the peacekeepers, the UN force would be able to take firmer action.
The operation appeared on the brink of collapse in May when hundreds of peacekeepers were taken hostage and rebels struck towards Freetown. But it has since built up to a strength of 13,000, making it the world's biggest UN peacekeeping force.
After the release of the last of the hostages last month and the rescue of the peacekeepers at Kailahun, it no longer has any personnel immediately threatened by the rebels, whose campaign degenerated into one of the most brutal civil wars in Africa.