Posted on 10/06/2004 10:08:38 AM PDT by 11th_VA
STANOVC, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Hundreds of French troops parachuted into Kosovo on Wednesday in the first major operational drop by the French military since intervention in Zaire in 1978.
The mid-morning calm in open meadows north of the U.N.-governed province's capital, Pristina, was shattered by the thunder of seven Transall C-160 planes arriving at the end of a five-hour flight from bases in France.
Arching low over cornfields, they emptied their human cargo, filling the skies with the dirty-white canopies of 361 French paratroopers, each with combat rifle and 50 kg of equipment strapped to his back.
The units included marines, signals, a medical team and an Air Force squadron.
Their 200-metre (600-feet) jump into a drop zone guarded by Moroccan troops marked the start of a 2,000-strong reinforcement of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force ahead of a general election in Kosovo on Oct. 23.
"It was an excellent drop," remarked a breathless Corporal David Suzanne, the sloping fields around him dotted with soldiers lumbering to their collection point.
A KFOR spokesman said it was France's first large airborne operation since 1978, when French paratroopers were deployed in war-torn Zaire in Central Africa.
"For the French army it's a very important operation," said Colonel Yves Kermervant.
German and Italian troops will deploy to Kosovo by land from Albania and Greece over the coming week, as part of KFOR's one-month reinforcement, a precaution triggered by ethnic riots in March in which Albanian mobs attacked minority Serb enclaves.
That spasm of violence, resulting in 19 deaths and 800 homes damaged or destroyed, caught NATO and Kosovo's United Nations administration by surprise. The alliance rushed 2,000 extra troops to the province, but it was after the fact and criticism was stinging.
"We're here so the elections can go ahead in a safe environment," said the paras' commanding officer, Captain Eric Dinechen.
"This demonstrates that Kosovo is still an operational theatre," said another French officer, who asked not to be named.
The deployment will temporarily raise the total strength of the five-year-old peacekeeping mission to 20,000.
Ethnic Albanians make up over 90 percent of Kosovo's two million population and are virtually unanimous in their demand for independence from Serbia.
The issue of the province's final status is expected to come to a head in mid-2005 for the United Nations and the major Western powers which authorised NATO's military intervention in 1999 to stop Serb repression of Albanians.
((Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Janet Lawrence))
AIR POLLUTION!
Why do I have a vision of French troops parachuting into Dade County Florida on November 1, 2004 -- to protect the November 2nd election, at the request of Kerry/Edwards?
I'm sure their first order of business is to make sure that the Serbs are completely disarmed and have no means to protect themselves.
Our country under the Clinton administration has a lot to answer for in the way we attacked the Serbian people and in the placing of the monster Yassar Arafat and his PLO in power.
A lot of innocent people have already and will continue to die for these colossal blunders.
LOL, best line of the night.
But do they have an EXIT strategy. That is the most important part of a military plan isn't it?
Stop the war in Kosovo now. End the french Occupation.
LOL .. I kept checking for the date thinking .. this has got to be an old article
Well, at this rate, the Frenchies should show up in Bastogne...well, practically any year now!
Seems I've heard something like that somewhere...oh, yeah. Bush, Iraq.
[Anti-Euroweenie sarcasm torpedo ARMED. FIRE!]
No, Florida. Didn't you hear Nobel-peace-prize winner Jimmuh Carter call for international observers in the US elections?
Your flag is unspeakably funny.
This is the hardest I've laughed for _weeks_ !
Can I appropriate it for private, noncommercial use?
S'il vous plait?
bttp
And after the drop they went on a nice little 20 mile hike (IIRC) while lugging approx 70# of gear, to secure the airfield at Bashur - which they did.
Caught by surprise? When I read that 6 Serb children had been gunned down while ice skating on a pond a while back I knew the Muslims were trying to clean them out. They have been killing Serb doctors and chasing out farmers. It is called ethnic cleansing. No mention of the thriving drug business run by several mafia type Albanian Muslim families?
They supply 85% of the albanca (white lady) to Europe. They keep the muslim terrorists armed to the teeth with the latest weaponry. Clinton, Albright and General Clark sure
did a great job.
"It must be difficult to control the parachute while simultaneously surrendering."
Oh no, drop your weapons after exiting the aircraft, then hang onto the risers which ensures you are in the surrender position. Bow down after landing. Kiss the feet of all the natives. Mais oui!
I heard that upon landing they surrendered to a 6 year old and her kitten! I have heard that the kitten had very sharp claws.
Can they really "parachute", you are kidding me aren't you!
I found it on the internet - you may do as you wish ...
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