By Lansana Fofana
FREETOWN, Mar 15 1999 (IPS)

Sierra Leone’s rebel groups have taken their war across borders hitting the town of Pamelap in neighbouring Guinea and disrupting informal trade between the two countries.

Aid workers in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown Monday confirmed that remnants of Sierra Leone’s ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and their allies, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), stormed the Guinean town last Friday.

“We understand that the battle lasted for hours and that Guinean troops succeeded in flushing out the rebels,” said one aid worker who declined to be named.

“Several civilians were killed or wounded and the rebels suffered casualties. Those of them who managed to flee, made away with looted items like foodstuffs,” the aid worker added.

The rebels attacked Pamelap from Sierra Leone’s northwestern district of Kambia, which borders Guinea. Kambia is largely controlled by the rebel forces.

Pamelap is the centre of trade activity between the two countries. Traders from Sierra Leone flock to the town to sell their goods in Guinea or to purchase imported foodstuffs and clothing to sell back at home.

A vibrant parallel market operates also in Pamelap which is populated by well over 40,000 people, which includes Sierra Leonean refugees.

Abdulai Thorlie, a Sierra Leonean businessman who witnessed the fighting in Pamelap, said the traders lost most of their merchandise in the clash between the rebels and Guinean troops.

“I would estimate the loss at thousands of dollars. Many traders lost cash or merchandise in the stampede,” said Thorlie who had to return to Sierra Leone in a dug-out canoe, because the highway linking Sierra Leone to Guinea via Kambia is now closed.

The Pamelap attack is the first major rebel incursion into Guinean territory this year. Last year, the rebels hit the eastern district of Gueckedou in Guinea, and burnt several houses in a string of small villages.

Following Friday’s attack, the Guineans have deployed a large number of troops on their southern border with Sierra Leone.

“The rebels have been completely routed and we are currently mopping up the area which has taken our troops into Kambia (in Sierra Leone), which is used as a base for the rebels,” a Guinean military commander is quoted as saying.

Guinea has the second largest contingent in the Nigerian-led West African Peacekeeping Force (ECOMOG). ECOMOG ousted the AFRC from power in February 1998 and restored the civilian government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah to power.

Troops from Guinea had been placed in Kambia, but the Sierra Leonean town fell to the rebels in early March of this year.

Although calm is reported in Pamelap, many cross-border traders have fled the area and are no longer transporting needed food items like palm oil and cassava into Sierra Leone.

“I am going to wait until absolute tranquility returns to the entire border region,” said Santigie Conteh. “I was distressed by the rebels here in Freetown and at Pamelap on the border. I don’t want that experience anymore.”

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