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Kathmandu Monday November 12, 2001 Kartik 27, 2058.
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‘US to provide Nepal with 10 choppers
to fight terror’
Post Report
POKHARA, Nov 11 A senior government official today revealed
that the United States has promised to supply Nepal with a number of modern fully-armed
helicopters to "fight terrorism."
Minister of State for Home, Devendra Raj Kandel, today said
that the US government had already committed itself to supplying 10 modern helicopters to
help the government control "terrorism." Kandel was addressing local Nepali
Congress supporters when he disclosed the information.
The minister did not specify who were indulging in terrorist
activities in Nepal but the term could be aimed at the Maoist insurgents who waged a
vicious "people’s war" for five and half years until a cease-fire put a
halt to that in July.
"Since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre,
the US is committed to eliminate terrorism from the globe and its promise of supplying us
the helicopters is part of that goal," Kandel said. According to the minister, the 10
fully equipped choppers will be flown by either the regular police or the newly formed
Armed Police Force. The chopper are slated to arrive soon, he added.
"At a time when the police had to charter helicopters in
its fight against terrorism, and when the police itself were looking for funds to buy one
helicopter, America’s commitment to us is a happy development," Kandel said.
The Nepal Police has often been criticized for spending huge
amount of money to charter choppers in its campaign against Maoist insurgents. Critics,
including parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, have pointed out that with the
money spent on charters, the police could have bought an entirely new helicopter.
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