IK/168
SC/5813
28 March 1994
CROWD ATTACKS SPECIAL COMMISSION HELICOPTER DURING MEDICAL EVACUATION
The following has been received from the Special Commission set up under
Security Council resolution 687 (1991) in connection with the disposal of
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction:
During a medical evacuation operation in Mosul, Iraq, a Special
Commission helicopter was attacked by a crowd. Stones were thrown at the
aircraft, damaging the rotor blades and fuselage and smashing three of the
windows. Iraqi military personnel at the site of the incident failed to
protect the helicopter.
The incident happened yesterday at 4 p.m. local time at the Saddam
Hospital in Mosul. The Special Commission had been requested by the United
Nations Guards to assist in the medical evacuation of two guards suffering
from gunshot wounds received when their bus was ambushed. The Iraqi
authorities had been informed of the operation and had expressed agreement to
it.
Upon landing at the hospital, the helicopter was surrounded by a crowd.
When the ambulance arrived with the two guards, the crowd sought to hinder its
passage to the aircraft and started to throw stones. Only a few of the Iraqi
military personnel on hand sought to intervene, ineffectively. Once the
injured had been loaded onto the helicopter, the Iraqi soldiers gave up their
efforts to control the crowd, who pelted the helicopter with stones, placing
the aircraft and those on board in severe danger.
The Iraqi Government is required, under its obligations in respect of
United Nations operations in Iraq and, in particular, under the status
arrangement through which the Special Commission operates in Iraq set out in
resolution 707 (1991) and the plans for ongoing monitoring and verification
approved by resolution 715 (1991), to ensure the safety and security of
Special Commission personnel and property.
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