ECOMOG artillery pounds hills near Freetown

ECOMOG artillery pounded hills overlooking the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, today (Wednesday) after security forces received what turned out to be false reports that rebels were in the area, Information Minister Julius Spencer said on state radio. The reports said rebels were descending from Fourah Bay College on a hilltop overlooking the city, AFP reported. It said ECOMOG had set up checkpoints throughout the city. ECOMOG could not be immediately reached for comment. A humanitarian source in the city told IRIN today that residents were anxious and the atmosphere was tense, especially in the heavily populated eastern section. The source said thousands of IDPs and Liberian refugees in a camp at Waterloo, 30 km south of Freetown, had fled following a rebel attack and some had reached Freetown.