08-13-2005, 01:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-13-2005, 01:27 AM by Bharatvarsh.)
Indian guns let 'Nepal down in Maoist battle'
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Army spokesman Brigadier-General Dipak Gurung said the Indian-manufactured INSAS rifles malfunctioned during the fighting which continued for about 10 hours.
...
"Soldiers complained that the INSAS rifles did not function properly during the fighting which lasted for a long time," Gurung told a news conference when asked why the army death toll was high.
"May be the weapons we were using were not designed for a long fight. They malfunctioned," he said.
...
"There were stoppages during the firing, the rifles got hot and soldiers had to wait for them to cool," another officer said.
India is a key military supplier to the poorly equipped Nepali army. But New Delhi suspended arms supplies six months ago after the King's power grab to press the monarch to restore multi-party democracy and civil liberties.
Nepali troops have complained in the past about technical problems with the Indian designed and built INSAS or Indian Small Arms System assault rifle.
Indian troops using the rifle are also known to have faced difficulties using it, Indian defence experts say. Indian defence officials declined to react to the Nepali comments.
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=52642<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Army spokesman Brigadier-General Dipak Gurung said the Indian-manufactured INSAS rifles malfunctioned during the fighting which continued for about 10 hours.
...
"Soldiers complained that the INSAS rifles did not function properly during the fighting which lasted for a long time," Gurung told a news conference when asked why the army death toll was high.
"May be the weapons we were using were not designed for a long fight. They malfunctioned," he said.
...
"There were stoppages during the firing, the rifles got hot and soldiers had to wait for them to cool," another officer said.
India is a key military supplier to the poorly equipped Nepali army. But New Delhi suspended arms supplies six months ago after the King's power grab to press the monarch to restore multi-party democracy and civil liberties.
Nepali troops have complained in the past about technical problems with the Indian designed and built INSAS or Indian Small Arms System assault rifle.
Indian troops using the rifle are also known to have faced difficulties using it, Indian defence experts say. Indian defence officials declined to react to the Nepali comments.
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=52642<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->