Kabala Roman Catholic mission reopens

The Roman Catholic mission in Kabala, northern Sierra Leone, reopened on Saturday and over 300 worshippers participated in mass the next day, MISNA reported. But with the security situation still uncertain in the area, the mission's activities will be limited to Kabala town, MISNA said. In a report covering 5-16 January, the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) says that armed RUF and ex-SLA/AFRC fighters were harassing civilians in the villages around Kabala and creating a very insecure environment. However, the missionaries perceived the release of several hundred child soldiers in the Kabala area in the last two weeks of January as a sign that the situation in Kabala was improving, MISNA said.