World News 16-08-2001 British Troops On Peace Mission To Macedonia who: British troops what: Begin Operation Essential Harvest where: Macedonia when: Tomorrow snippet: 400 British soldiers will fly into Macedonia tomorrow and set up a headquarters in Skopje, reports The Independent, quickly followed by another 3,000 next week. The troops are part of the NATO peace plan to collect and destroy weapons in the hands of ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the National Liberation Army, says The Guardian. Operation Essential Harvest will be carried out by troops from the Colchester-based 16th assault brigade, the rapid reaction force which includes the Parachute regiment`s 2nd battalion. The "thankless task" of these soldiers is to "separate two peoples who hate each other," says Julius Strauss in The Telegraph. "More worrying for the commanders is the animosity the troops may face from local people." "Unlike previous Balkan operations," says The Times, "where Nato has always insisted on heavy armour to back up its troops, soldiers from the ten alliance countries contributing troops will rely mostly on their personal weapons to protect themselves against possible attack." [... more]

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