Lt. Col, 4 others killed on UN duty
Five Indian Army personnel, including an officer of lieutenant-colonel rank, on UN peacekeeping duties were killed and five others injured when attacked by rebels in South Sudan Tuesday morning, Indian Army sources said. South Sudan’s military spokes-man Col. Philip Aguer blamed the attack on fighters led by David Yau Yau, a rebel leader battling South Sudan’s military for months, foreign news agencies reported.
Army sources said the rebel attack occurred when the Indian troops were escorting a UN convoy from Gumruk to Bor in South Sudan’s Jonglei province. The Indian troops present, 32 in all, were attacked by small arms fire 8 km from Gumruk around 8.30 am (local time). A lieutenant-colonel of 9 Mechanised Infantry was killed in the hour-long “firefight”. The Indian troops retaliated in self-defence after being attacked by the rebels. Four personnel below officer rank were also killed, of which one belonged to 9 Mechanised Infantry and the remaining three to 6 Mahar Regiment. The officer killed was identified as Lt. Col. Mahipal Singh, who was from Mahendragarh in Harya-na. The others killed were identified as Naib Subedar Shiv Kumar Pal and Sepoy Nand Kishore from 6 Mahar, and Havaldar Hiralal and Havaldar Bharat Sasmal from 9 Mechanised Infantry. Defence sources said the UN compensation for the families of each of the deceased could be around $70,000 (about `38 lakhs).
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