CDF arrested at checkpoints

Some 28 armed suspected members of the pro-government Civil Defence Forces (CDF) on their way to Freetown were arrested at UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) checkpoints on Tuesday, UNAMSIL spokeswoman Hirut Befecadu reported on Thursday. Arms and ammunition were recovered by UN forces and the men were handed over to the police, the UN said. The government recently declared Freetown a weapons-free zone. Meanwhile in Masiaka, some 60 km east of Freetown, reports on Thursday said that the situation was calm and some civilians who had fled the recent fighting there, were now beginning to return. Six bodies were found in Masiaka and identified as Sierra Leone Army (SLA) and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) combatants, the UN reported. Prior to UNAMSIL troops taking control of Masiaka on Tuesday, there had been an earlier “action” between RUF rebels and government forces, military spokesman Lieutenant Commander Patrick Coker said. Some displaced people in the Mile 91 area are returning home, the UN added.