attack on the militia positions, however, they were unable to prevent the militia from escaping. After the engagement, a second dead militiaman was discovered. Four days later, on 6 August 2000, 6 RAR was involved in two more contacts, the first near Batugade and the second once again near Maliana. As a result of these contacts three militiamen were wounded, one of whom was captured. After this the militia turned their focus to other areas of operations, focusing mainly on the New Zealand area, where on 10 August, four Nepalese soldiers were wounded in two separate incidents, one of whom eventually died of his wounds. Contacts with the militia continued throughout the deployment, however, as a result of the offensive carried out by 6 RAR, the battalion was able to maintain the tactical initiative and prevented the militia from achieving their stated aims of forcing the UN to withdraw from the country. Before they were relieved by 1 RAR in October 2000, the battalion also assisted in helping with the evacuation of UN and other personnel from Atambua in West Timor, as well as undertaking a host of CIMIC operations. East Timor, 2003–2007 6 RAR returned to East Timor in November 2003 as part of Operation Citadel, taking over as AUSBATT IX from 1 RAR. The task force consisted of just two rifle companies plus an armoured personnel carrier troop from the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment, a troop of Blackhawk helicopters from the 5th Aviation Regiment, an engineering troop from the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment, a CIMIC team from the 1st Field Regiment and a surgical team from the 2nd Health Support Battalion. The threat level in the country at the time was considerably less than the last time that 6 RAR units had deployed there, however, due to a decrease in the number of troops deployed and an expansion of the area in which they were required to operate, meant that the companies had to maintain a very high operational tempo throughout the seven-month tour. During this time they were largely deployed in AO Matilda, in the Bobonaro district, although they also had to cover the Liquica, Ermera, Ainaro, Cova Lima and Oecussi districts. This area had a population of over 400,000 people and had previously been covered by three full battalions. This rotation was the last deployment under Operation Citadel. It was also the longest, a factor which