Freetown - Thousands of people are fleeing the Sierra Leone diamond town of Tongofield after its capture by heavily armed Kamajor hunters in a battle against troops loyal to the military government, relief agency officials said yesterday. The traditional hunters took the town, a key source of government revenue, on Saturday after wearing down defending forces in a two-week siege.
The Kamajor oppose the junta that toppled president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in May 1997 and have launched repeated attacks against the Sierra Leone army and former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels who rallied to the coup. --(Reuters)