PERSONAL JUSTICE by Ramlee Awang Murshid

2

BANJA LUKA, BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA

APRIL 1995

THE night was cold and quiet in this city. Most of the buildings in the city were destroyed by bombings by the Serbian army. The city's mosque, the Ferhdija Mosque built in the sixteenth century was destroyed too. Once, it used to be the administrative center for the Bosnia Serb entity, the Srpska Republic, before it was blown by the local Serbs in 1993. 

Inspector Hilman and Sergeant Maniam hid behind a ruin. They had their night vision on - an equipment used at dark to make it easy to observe or detect enemy's movement - peering at the windows of adjacent buildings. Worried their presence known. Worried if a sniper was, at that moment, aiming his sight on them. Indeed, snipers were everywhere in the city since the war had settled down.

Hilman glance at Maniam. He raised a thumb up signalling it was safe. Maniam nodded.

"Cover me," Hilman commanded.

Maniam aimed his rifle forward. Then Hilman sprinted across to the adjoining ruins, steadying his rifle frontward, left and right soon as he was safely in place behind a wall. Seeing Hilman was ready, Maniam then dashed across to join Hilman. He sighed with relief when he reached Hilman safely.

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HILMAN and Maniam were among the police commandos deployed in the city. The Royal Malaysia Police had participated as a Peace Corps with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) soon after war broke out in the area. Presently, they were assigned to rescue Lieutenant Colonel George Whitehall, an officer of the United State Army from Delta Force who was kidnapped by an unknown group. Hilman was sure the kidnappers were renegades of the Serbian Army who had been terrorizing the city. They were the culprits behind the sniping and killings of Muslims in the city. 

Based on the information provided by a local resident, Lieutenant Colonel George Whitehall was taken by a group wearing Serbian Army's fatigues while he was on a reconnaissance mission in the city to pinpoint the enemy's position. Shots rang out and two Delta Force members were killed. Lieutenant Colonel George Whitehall could not be located and was believed to have been kidnapped.

Hilman and Maniam received a radio message from the UNPROFOR base while on a routine patrol. Since they were already in the area, they immediately went into action to investigate before relaying their findings to UNPROFOR. However, they were told to get ready to launch a rescue mission after receiving news that the Delta Force's rescue unit was ambushed at the area's main access.

As the trained members of police commando, Hilman and Maniam would obey the orders given by UNPROFOR even if their lives were at risk. Malaysia Boleh! (Malaysia Can!) 

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SOUNDS of shots were muffled in the distance. Hilman and Maniam listened. Hilman pointed to a direction of a ruin situated at the last row of buildings. That was where the sounds came from. They sprang into action, diving from one ruin to another until they reached the last one.

Hilman spied the situation with his night vision. He could see a man standing by a window peering outside before moving back to hide. 

"What now?" Maniam whispered.

"We go in," Hilman replied.

"There's a lookout, " Maniam said pointing to the man at the window. 

"Stay close to the walls. The view down from the window is too straight. That guy seems watching only his front." Hilman explained his strategy. Maniam nodded his agreement.