UNAMSIL head visits scene of reported clashes

The force commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, Major General Vijay Jetley, travelled on Wednesday to Mile 91 to assess the situation in the area, situated east of Freetown, following reports of clashes there, UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida said in New York. According to news reports, Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and pro-government forces had clashed on Monday near the town. De Almeida said some 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had gathered at Mile 91 and that humanitarian workers were concerned by the security situation. Addressing a gathering of IDPs in Mile 91, Jetley urged them to remain calm and organise themselves into manageable companies, the UN spokesman reported. De Almeida said there were indications that some IDPs who had fled on hearing rumours of fighting in recent days were returning to the area. A spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Freetown told IRIN on Wednesday that the situation in Mile 91 had stabilised. Aid agencies have been distributing food to some of the displaced people in Mile 91 and surrounding villages over the last 10 days, OCHA said.