end number 2, caught fire upon being destroyed, which caused a series 01 explo5 ions, apparently of munitions. / . . . A/40/737 s/17549 English Page 24 The Costa Rican authorities had received informtition regarding the presence, days before, in the area between Las Tiricias and Las Crucitas, in Costa Rican territory, of troops that the Director General of the Police Force called “activists”. To check those reports, the Office of the Director General of the Costa Rican Civil Guard ordered guards of the Atlantic and ~0s Chiles commands to carry out a patrol. The patrol, whose members stated they wore armbands with the colours of the Costa Rican flag, began moving in vehicles from Los Chiles to the site called Las Tiricias, from where they continued on foot. The patrol got to Las Crucitas uneventfully, between 1500 and 1530 hours. 1t reconnoitred the small plain located on the Costa Rican side of the San Juan river, where the houses mentioned in appendix 1 were. The members of the patrol agreed that, contrary to what Comandante Calderon informed the Committee, house number 2 was still standing when they reached the site. Some of them entered the house for inspection and found some kitchen utensils, an outboard motor , an empty fuel tank for outboard motors , and a bag with rotting organic matter that they did not examine carefully on account of the advanced state of decay. The members of the.patrol also agreed that the house identiEied as number 1 in appendix 1 was destroyed, presuming that it had recently been burnt down. The Nicaraguan version pointed out that around 1600 hours, a new exchange of fire occurred at this place, between units of the Sandinista People’s Army on the 
**Analysis**
The text appears to describe a military operation or conflict, likely related to the Nicaraguan Civil War (1979-1990) or the Central American crisis of the 1980s. The mention of troops, patrol, and exchange of fire suggests a military context. The location, Costa Rica and the San Juan river, also points to a border region.

**Category**
Humanitarian aid and relief, International trade