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Armed men attack garrison, abduct missionaries

    ABIDJAN

    Unidentified gunmen crossed the border from Sierra Leone before dawn on
    Wednesday, attacked a Guinean garrison and escaped taking three Italian
    missionaries with them.

    An undetermined number of attackers entered the border village of Pamalap,
    100 km southeast of Conakry, and at one point had seized control of the
    garrison, a Western diplomat in Conakry told IRIN on Thursday. Guinea has sent reinforcements to the area, but it is unclear whether the garrison
    had been retaken.

    “The territorial integrity of our nation will be ensured by our armed
    forces. The defence of our nation is a responsibility which should be
    assumed by all,” Radio Guinee reported.

    The Bishop of Makeni in Sierra Leone, Monsignor Giorgio Biguzzi,
    identified the missionaries as the reverends Franco Manganello, 62,
    Vittoria Mosele, 64; and Giuseppe Giacomello, a volunteer, the Missionary
    news agency, MISNA, reported. They reportedly were helping Sierra Leonean
    refugees in Guinea. Thousands of Liberian refugees have sought safety in
    Guinea as well. One report said Mosele had been captured by Revolutionary
    United Front (RUF) fighters in February last year and released in April.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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