BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - The U.S. military ended its tsunami relief efforts in Aceh province Wednesday when the medical ship USNS Mercy steamed out of the region, the U.S. Embassy said. The withdrawal of the ship means there are no longer any U.S. service men or women left helping tsunami survivors in Aceh, said embassy spokesman Max Kwak. At its peak, the military had 15,000 U.S. personnel in the province.
Doctors and nurses aboard the ship performed almost 20,000 medical procedures on sick and injured tsunami survivors during its six-week stint moored off the west coast of the region. The Mercy's withdrawal continues the scaling down of foreign forces involved in relief operations in Aceh. The medical ship planned to stop in eastern Indonesia to treat sick patients there, the embassy said. |