Freetown - West African intervention troops pursued operations against rebels in parts of Sierra Leone and said their "security dragnet" around the capital, Freetown, where schools reopened yesterday, should reassure residents. In Port Loko, some 50 km (30 miles) from Freetown, the Nigerian-led Ecomog troops were battling rebels of the junta ousted last February and their allies in the Revolutionary United Front, a long-established rebel movement.
Ecomog forces, responsible for security in the troubled west African country, are also targeting the Kossoh area just 20 km east of Freetown, where the rebels are thought to be trapped and cut off from their rear base. The road between Freetown and Masiaka, a vital supply line for the capital, has reopened, truck drivers said yesterday. It had been closed for two days.