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Just over 16,500 ex-combatants disarmed

    ABIDJAN

    Just over 16,500 ex-combatants have been disarmed, including 870 children, according to figures provided by the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) on 16 February.

    Those disarmed include just over 3,500 RUF, nearly 4,000 AFRC/ex-SLA, 3,348 from the pro-government Civil Defence Force, which includes the Kamajor militia, and 3,804 soldiers of the current Sierra Leone Army - people who fought alongside the Nigerian-led peacekeeping force ECOMOG until the Lome Agreement was signed in July 1999.

    The list also includes over 1,400 "Phase One" ex-combatants- people disarmed and demobilised before the DDR programme was officially launched. These are mainly SLA soldiers who served under the military junta that overthrew President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in May 1997, but who surrendered when troops from ECOMOG restored Kabbah to power in February 1998.

    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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