An exhumation team arrived on Sunday at Rogberi Junction, some 68 km northeast of Freetown, to examine the remains of UN peacekeepers killed during fighting in May, the UN reported on Monday.
Forensic scientists who visited the area did a considerable amount of work but will have to return, the UN said. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had expressed shock when several mutilated bodies in UN uniforms were found by government forces on 22 May in the area northeast of Freetown.
Meanwhile, Freetown remained calm and there were no recent reports of fighting in the rest of the country, Information Minister Julius Spencer told IRIN on Tuesday.
The UN reported that over the weekend it was able to provide rations to some 222 Indian UN troops and 11 military observers surrounded by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in the eastern town of Kailahun and some 21 Indian peacekeepers detained since May by the RUF at Pendembu, also in the east.
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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