ROSE-MARIE BRUBALLA, Freetown | Wednesday 8.00pm.
THE West African intervention force Ecomog on Wednesday “liberated” an area east of Freetown considered to be the last bastion of the rebels who stormed the Sierra Leonean capital a fortnight ago, a spokesperson said.
In a simultaneous offensive in the north-west of the West African country, Ecomog is using “all its means, on the ground and in the air,” said Chris Olukulade. Another Ecomog operation is under way in Songo, an area some 40km east of Freetown, he said.
Ecomog troops are said to be moving west from Songo, towards the capital, in an attempt to corner retreating rebels of the Revolutionary United Front and their allies in the junta that was ousted from Freetown nearly a year ago. Ecomog troops are also firmly entrenched in Hastings and Waterloo, towns a few kilometres south-east of Freetown, and attempting to cut off rebels trying to escape from the Freetown peninsula to the interior of the country, Olukulade said.
“Our next move will be to patrol the hills” around Freetown, where rebels are dispersed in small groups, the officer said. He did not disclose the situation in Sierra Leone’s eastern diamond-rich district, where the rebel presence is reportedly heavy.
Meanwhile, the recapture of Freetown’s ferry terminal, which is normally used for travel and transport from the peninsular coast across an estuary to the international airport, could ensure that Ecomog is able to control the rest of the capital. — AFP