OWN CORRESPONDENT, FREETOWN | Saturday 2.30pm.
PRO-GOVERNMENT forces in Sierra Leone repelled two rebel attacks on Port Loko, 40km northeast of Freetown, late on Friday and are advancing east.
“Armed rebels attacked Port Loko twice last night at 5 pm and at 10 pm, the attacks were repelled by loyal governement troops,” according to the daily “security update.” “The area is still firmly under government control,” the communique said.
The update gave no casualty figures
Friday
THE Sierra Leone army fled in the face of a rebel assault about 25 miles from Freetown yesterday, as United Nations forces dug in to protect the capital and the British army prepared for a possible assault on the international airport.
Desperate government soldiers turned and ran after an hour-long battle with Revolutionary United Front rebels near Newton, saying they had run out of ammunition and had not eaten all day. The RUF weaponry included some of the 13 UN armoured personnel carriers captured from the nearly 500 peacekeepers taken hostage last week.
The situation was rescued by Nigerian UN peacekeepers, who checked the rebel advance and ordered the Sierra Leone troops back into the fray. “Get back there and fight. Don’t run away!” screamed a Nigerian officer at the fleeing soldiers. The major then grabbed a Sierra Leonean colonel and told him his men were a shambles and his army lacked structure. The colonel promised to act, but continued to retreat.
Eventually the rebels were dispersed by the Nigerians and Sierra Leonean soldiers who could be persuaded to fight again, but UN and British officials remain concerned at the RUF’s ability to launch raids a few miles from Freetown. They are also fearful that while the major roads into the capital are relatively secure, Freetown may be infiltrated through the bush and over the surrounding hills, as happened during a rebel attack in which a large part of the city was occupied early last year.
UN peacekeepers fought overnight battles with the RUF around Newton and Port Loco, 30 miles to the north. It is a key town en route to the international airport, which is the other side of the wide Sierra Leone river from Freetown.