REBEL activity around the town of Makeni in western Sierra Leone has triggered a huge exodus of wounded civilians. Many of those seen fleeing have gunshot wounds, most of them from light arms fire, indicating that the wounds were the result of rebel activity and not rebel-government fighting. Military sources said another large party had been seen on the road from Makeni, some 140 kilometres northeast of Freetown. The reports came amid expectation of a coming battle between government and rebel forces for control of Makeni, held for the past year by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Last month, aid workers reported an earlier influx into Freetown of several thousand people displaced from Makeni who reported fresh atrocities committed by rebels in the region.