The United Nations reported today that
a UN peacekeeper from Nigeria had been killed in Sierra Leone in an attack
by rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
Speaking to correspondents in New York,
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that the Nigerian soldier had been killed
in an exchange of fire on 16 July, when his patrol ran into suspected RUF
combatants near Rogberi Junction in western Sierra Leone. "The incident
took place Sunday and his body was recovered yesterday," the spokesman
said.
The UN Security Council, which was briefed this morning by a senior UN peacekeeping official on the latest developments in Sierra Leone, expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased soldier and to the Government of Nigeria, according to the Council President, Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica.
On the humanitarian front, UN officials reported that the health situation for displaced civilians in the town of Mile 91 continued to deteriorate due to poor water and sanitation conditions. A key obstacle to expanding programmes in Mile 91 had been the lack of Ministry of Health staff, who left due to security concerns, spokesman Fred Eckhard said. He added that the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and a non-governmental organization were in the process of distributing 700 metric tonnes of food in one-month rations to about 60,000 internally displaced people in the area.