Freetown - West African intervention troops killed more than 200 Sierra Leone rebels in two days of fighting just 17 km east of the capital, Freetown, civilian survivors said yesterday.
Witnesses said clashes began on Sunday with an attack on the small town of Hastings and then spread to Jui, where Nigerian-led Ecomog troops are headquartered. The fighting forced residents to flee.
Meanwhile, the special envoy of the UN Secretary General, Mr Francis Okello, toured the eastern and southern cities of Kenema and Bo on Monday in an attempt to assess security following the evacuation last week of UN military observers from the area.