| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
(The following is a special update on the situaton in Sierra Leone. A full update will move later today.)
ABIDJAN, 6 December (IRIN) - Fierce fighting broke out in the centre of Freetown today (Wednesday) as rebels clashed with troops of the West African intervention force, ECOMOG, humanitarian officials and news agencies reported.
A humanitarian official in Abidjan, who was in radio contact with aid workers in Freetown earlier today, told IRIN that gunfire had been heard in Kissy Town in the east of the capital. The radio contact was later lost.
A diplomat in Abidjan, quoting humanitarian aid sources, told IRIN the rebels had released prisoners, including many former soldiers of the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), from Pademba Road prison in the heart of the city.
AFP reported that shooting was first heard at 01:00 GMT in the eastern neighbourhoods of Wellington and Calaba. Four hours later, the agency said, shots were heard closer to the centre and west of the city. AFP said ECOMOG shelled the hills overlooking the city.
In a statement read over state radio, Sierra Leonean Information Minister Julius Spencer appealed to city residents to remain calm, AFP said.
Abidjan, 6 December. 1999 11:30 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 11:45:16 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: SIERRA LEONE: Fighting in central Freetown 1999.01.06
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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