Keeping the peace: stories of Australian peacekeepers - East Timor
East Timor
In East Timor, for the first time, Australia organized and led a multinational peacekeeping operation. Interfet, which landed in East Timor in September 1999, was highly successful in quelling militia violence against the East Timorese people. Twenty-two nations contributed forces to Interfet, but more than half the troops were Australians. In February 2000, Interfet handed over to a United Nations operation, which now faces the enormous task of helping the East Timorese restore their society and create a nation from scratch.