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Thai troops to leave Iraq
27/08/2004 11:04 - (SA)
Bangkok - Thailand's troops prepared to withdraw from Iraq on Friday after completing a yearlong humanitarian mission in the war-torn country, officials said.
Thailand withdrew about 80 soldiers and some equipment from Iraq earlier this month, and the rest of the contingent of 443 troops will join them at Camp Virginia in Kuwait, said Major General Palangoon Kraharn.
The soldiers were expected to depart their base at Camp Lima, in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, in a convoy of nine buses heavily guarded by coalition forces, Palangoon said. They were expected to reach Kuwait by early evening.
The troops will fly back to Thailand from September 5-7, he said. They were originally scheduled to return by September 20.
Part of a Polish-led multinational force, the Thai soldiers were dispatched last September for one year in Iraq in a non-combat role. They sent medical teams into the surrounding community and helped construct roads and buildings.
Two Thai soldiers were killed during an insurgent attack last December at Camp Lima, about 100km south of Baghdad.
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