21,000 civilians flee Sierra Leonean town

FREETOWN, JUNE 11: More than 21,000 civilians have fled the town of Makeni in western Sierra Leone in recent days as fears grow of fightin...

FREETOWN, JUNE 11: More than 21,000 civilians have fled the town of Makeni in western Sierra Leone in recent days as fears grow of fighting, aid workers and UN officials said.

Some 21,000 people had been registered at a camp at Mile 91, a junction 91 miles east by road from the capital Freetown, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations said.

Most of those who fled said they feared fighting between RUF rebels who hold the town of Makeni, north of Mile 91, and pro-government forces, the two organisations said. The new movement would bring to over 200,000 the number of people who have fled their homes and are internally displaced within Sierra Leone, more than 50,000 of them in past weeks.

Sierra Leonean Army (SLA) forces last week captured the town of Lunsar, 60 kilometres west of Makeni. On Saturday, SLA director of operations Colonel A C Nelson-Williams told reporters the Army was digging in its position at Lunsar and its next objective was Makeni.

To the North, the 1st brigade was poised to capture the town of Mange and move on towards Kambia, near the border with Guinea, he said.

Nelson-Williams said it was always possible there would be civilian casualties in any fighting, describing this as "unfortunate", but unavoidable. "It is unfortunate if there are civilians around. It is not deliberate. If civilians are around it is unfortunate," he said.