Two soldiers serving with UN forces in Haiti—one from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal—were killed Sunday during security operations, officials said. The deceased Sri Lankan soldier was supporting 200 UN stabilization force (MINUSTAH) troops who took back control of a police station in Petit-Goave, 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Port-au-Prince, on Sunday. A spokesman for the MINUSTAH, Toussaint Kongo-Doudou, said the Sri Lankan soldier's death was the first of a UN soldier in Haiti since the force deployed here at the end of June 2004. He did not identify either man.Three other UN soldiers were wounded in taking control of the police station. Thirty-five former Haitian soldiers was also captured, Kongo-Doudou said. Former Haitian soldiers had used the police station as their headquarters since taking control of the city on August 30. Before launching the assault on the makeshift headquarters, UN soldiers attempted to negotiate a peaceful end to the occupation led by Brazilian General Augusto Ribeiro Heleno, commander of the Un troops. Haitian police spokesman Gessie Cameau-Coicou told AFP that the operation was conducted in concert with Haitian police. The soldier from Nepal was gunned down and another was wounded while on patrol in central Haitiby former Haitian soldiers, MINUSTAH said.
| Doesn't the Nepalese soldier have something better to do at home, like killing Maoists? |