Relief agencies return to parts of the southwest

Relief agencies have again been able to operate in some regions of southwest Guinea from where they had withdrawn earlier this week after rebel attacks in the area, UNHCR reported on Friday. However, the situation remains tense across southwest Guinea, and stringent security measures are in place, it said. A small UNHCR team visited the border town of Guekedou on Thursday. The town has suffered from repeated rebel assaults since December, including attacks on Saturday and Monday that were repulsed by the Guinean army and allied militia forces. A military operation is now underway in regions bordering on Sierra Leone and Liberia, UNHCR learnt. Checkpoints are in place at the entrance to every village in the region, and Guinean army armoured vehicles are visible along the roads, the refugee agency reported. Towns east of Guekedou along the road to Macenta have been cleared of rebels, UNHCR was told, including two that had fallen to rebels on Saturday. Some villages in the area were completely burned before the attackers pulled out, adding to the thousands of Guineans already displaced by fighting and insecurity in recent months, the agency said.