Renewed fighting claims 77 lives

Renewed fighting on Guinea’s border with Liberia and Sierra Leone at the weekend claimed at least 77 lives, sending Guineans and refugees from neighbouring countries fleeing for safety.

“From what we hear from the field fighting is ongoing” near the town of Forecariah, about 75 km south of Conakry on the border with Sierra Leone, Fatoumata Kaba, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Conakry, told IRIN on Monday. Other reports said 10 people were killed in the attack near Forecariah.

Kaba said at least 67 people were killed on Friday in Macenta. The town, located about 475 km from Conakry, is on the Liberian border. Kaba said a UNHCR warehouse that contained non-food items, such as blankets and buckets, was looted and destroyed in the raid.

Two UNHCR teams have traveled to border towns, where nearly 500,000 refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone are camped, to assess the security situation. A UNHCR worker was killed in Macenta last month. Although the cross-border attacks are still a threat, internal security has improved, Kaba said.

“There are fewer checkpoints. Vigilante groups who were harassing our workers are no longer harassing them,” she said. “We hope that is going to continue despite the attacks on Forecariah.”

About 5,000 Liberians and Sierra Leoneans were detained by security forces and vigilantes last month for identity screening. UNHCR confirmed reports of beatings and rapes. The detainees were released, but concern for the refugees lingers. President Lansana Conte of Guinea on Monday blamed the refugees for most of the problems plaguing his country. He said their presence “coupled with the economic, financial and social consequences, have led to organised crime, banditry, arms and drugs trafficking and prositution, which encourage the spread of AIDS in the country”.