The U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea said Thursday it was vacating 18 observation camps owing to restrictions imposed on its helicopter flights, according to DPA. On October 4, Eritrea banned U.N. helicopters from flying over its airspace in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) and later prohibited nighttime driving within the Zone. UNMEE said the measures had drastically reduced its capacity to monitor military movements, supply troops and undertake emergency medical evacuations. "We are in the process of vacating 18 of the 40 remote camps and posts, which would take us about one month to complete," UNMEE chief of staff Col. Mohammed Iqbal said during a weekly video briefing connecting journalists in Asmara and Addis Ababa. The evacuation would involve the withdrawal of more than 300 Indian and Jordanian troops from 18 remote camps and a temporary observation site in the 25 kilometre-buffer zone in Eritrea, along the 1,100-kilometre joint border. The ban imposed on U.N. helicopter flights and restrictions on vehicles after 6 p.m. have prevented UNMEE from conducting emergency air evacuations after demining accidents. "No demining or unexploded ordnance disposal operations have been conducted in the Mission since 5 October," Iqbal said in Asmara. UNMEE was evaluating possibilities of regrouping peacekeeping troops along the TSZ to cover for the vacated posts, Gail Sainte, chief of UNMEE Public Information said.
