Rebels ambush UN escort convoy

FREETOWN, JULY 1: Corporal Salleh Al-Sarred Mohammad, a UN peacekeeper from Jordan in Sierra Leone was killed by unidentified assailants in an ambush on Friday afternoon.

Four other soldiers, all from the Jordanian battalion, were injured. Two are said to be serious. They were a part of an escort group which were to get a logistics convoy on its way back from the sensitive Mile 91 area. The UNAMSIL spokesperson Hirut Befecadu said that the convoy had gone to deliver supplies to the recently strengthened defences at Mile 91. The convoy was escorted back till some distance by the Guinean battalion and the Zambian battalion.

“The Jordanian battalion troops were on their way to escort the convoy further down towards Freetown when they were attacked by unidentified assailants,” a UNAMSIL official said.

The Jordanian troops returned fire but one soldier was killed in the gunbattle. Casualties on the rebel side are still unknown. The UNAMSIL headquarters has despatched a strong patrol to secure the road area and also get more details of the ambush. Sources said this was the first time that the rebel forces had directly attacked and ambushed the UN peacekeepers.