A Sierra Leone Army (SLA) battalion protects the northern town of Kabala and local and international staff there are reportedly safe, HACU says.
Although the town is not threatened by the RUF, the presence of some 2,000 ex-SLA poses a potential threat, HACU says in its latest situation report, adding that there have been reports of civilians being harassed in surrounding villages.
The ex-SLA is made up of former soldiers who had backed the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council junta that ruled Sierra Leone in alliance with the RUF from May 1997 to February 1998.
The report adds that measures have been taken to enable combatants to register prior their encampment.
In a trip on 8 December to Kabala and Fadugu, another northern town, RUF leader Foday Sankoh ordered some of his soldiers to demobilise but only nine did so, HACU reports.
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