US Troops Sent to Protect Children Trapped in Cote d'Ivoire

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 25, 2002

US Troops Sent to Protect Children Trapped in Cote d'Ivoire

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The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had sent US troops to strife-torn Cote d'Ivoire, previously known as the Ivory Coast, to protect some American school children trapped in the West African country.

"At the request of the American ambassador to the Ivory Coast, the European Command intends to move forces there to ensure the safety of our American citizens," US navy spokesman Don Sewell told reporters.

"The purpose is to go there and assist in moving American citizens from the International Christian Academy, where they are, to a safe location, still within Ivory Coast," Sewell said, insisting that the operation was not an evacuation.

Although the spokesman declined to elaborate on the operation, agencies reports put the number of US troops involved at less than200.

Senior US officials said that preparations are also being made in neighboring Ghana for a possible airlift.

Agencies reports said that about 170 foreign schoolchildren, including 160 Americans, were trapped in the International Christian Academy in the rebel-held Bouake, the second largest city of Cote d'Ivoire.

The children were reportedly frightened by the exchange of fire between the rebels and the government troops.

The Cote d'Ivoire government described the rebellion as an army mutiny designed to topple President Laurent Gbagbo and blamed it on the country's former military ruler Robert Guei.

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