West Side Boys cleared from illegal roadblocks1

The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) launched an “intensive operation” on Saturday to clear illegal checkpoints on the roads between Freetown and Lungi, site of the international airport, UNAMSIL said. ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ involved “robust” patrols by Indian, Jordanian and Nigerian peacekeepers supported by helicopter gunships, Lieutenant Commander Patrick Coker, UNAMSIL military spokesman, told IRIN on Monday. “All roadblocks and checkpoints have now been removed and UNAMSIL patrols are in the area,” he said, adding that there were no reports of casualties among the peacekeepers even though they encountered “pockets of resistance”. There were two phases to the operation, Coker said, the first to conduct a cordon-and-search operation in key locations in the capital to prevent any retaliatory action and the second to secure the roads between Freetown and Lungi, particularly in the Occra Hills area. The area around the Occra Hills is the base of a faction known as the ‘West Side Boys’, former Sierra Leone Army soldiers loyal to ex-junta leader Johnny Paul Koroma. The militia, who refused a government order over two weeks ago to surrender their weapons to UN peacekeepers in Masiaka or face punishment, was reported to have clashed recently with pro-government forces. Its members have also been accused of harassing civilians at illegal roadblocks and checkpoints. During ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ the militia lost equipment but Coker did not have any information on casualty figures. The operation aimed to fulfil part of UNAMSIL’s mandate to “facilitate the free flow of people, goods and humanitarian assistance” in areas where it is deployed, the UN said. Reports indicate that traffic has started to flow along the Freetown-Lungi highway, Coker said on Monday.