Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Sierra Leone
  • News

ECOMOG retakes most of central Freetown

    ABIDJAN

    Humanitarian sources still in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, said today (Friday) that the West African intervention force, ECOMOG, had retaken most of the positions held by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebels in the centre of the city.

    A humanitarian official in Abidjan, who had been in touch with colleagues in Freetown, told IRIN that ECOMOG had retaken Wilberforce, Aberdeen and Lumley Beach and were mopping up in Brookfields where the United Nations Military Observer Mission for Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) is located. Earlier press reports said that ECOMOG had also retaken Pademba Road Prison and State House.

    A humanitarian source in the besieged city said the rebels forced people from their homes and gave them white handkerchiefs to wave in a show of pro-rebel support. Some children who refused to comply were shot, the source said.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join