New Delhi, July 27, 2005, Gautam Datt (Asian Age)

The Indian Army is planning to send an additional brigade of troops for peacekeeping operations in Congo. A brigade of the Indian Army is already operating in the strife-torn African nation.

The request for another brigade, around 3,000 soldiers, was made by the UN recently. The ministry of external affairs and defence have given a go ahead to send the troops. The Army has earmarked 66 brigade, based in Binagudi in West Bengal.

The UN has requested for more Indian troops mainly for election duty. If the second brigade goes it will be the largest deployment by the Indian Army in one location for UN mission. The brigade earmarked for the job has experience of handling UN peacekeeping missions. It is the same brigade that was deployed in Somalia some time back.

The Indian contingent last month had received a casualty in Congo when one of its soldiers was killed and three others injured in gunfire. The official version of the incident was that the soldier of 3 Mahar Regiment was killed as he came in crossfire between Congolese troops who were chasing rebels. There has not been any untoward incident involving Indian troops since then.

Officials said that Indian troops were operating in much worse circumstances in the early 1960s when another UN mission was operating. The existing Indian brigade has soldiers from 10 Bihar, 22 Grenadiers and 3 Mahar. Some of the deployment has been in North Kivu. Apart from the Army, the Indian Air Force also has a contingent of four attack helicopters (Mi25 and Mi35) which provide air support to UN soldiers which also include Pakistanis.

India has been one of the largest contributors in the UN peace missions. The participation has come with a price. More than 100 Indian troops have died so far in various missions over the years. The last time they were caught in a bloody battle was in Sierra Leone more than five years back.

The elections in Congo are slated to take place later this year. The officials said that the brigade has been earmarked and the marching orders were awaited.

The UN mission in Congo has witnessed bloody events with soldiers of various nationalists getting killed.