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Twenty killed in Sierra Leone attack and nearly 2,000 prisoners escape

Twenty killed in Sierra Leone attack and nearly 2,000 prisoners escape

TWENTY people were killed and nearly 2,000 inmates escaped during an attack on a military barracks, a prison and other locations in Sierra Leone, officials said. The West African country was thrown into panic in the early hours when the assailants sent gunfire ringing across the capital Freetown. The government blamed "renegade soldiers" that it said had been repelled. President Julius Maada Bio said in an address on Sunday that most of the leaders of the attack had been arrested and that efforts to apprehend others were underway. An investigation has been launched, he said. Army spokesman Colonel Issa Bangura…
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Sierra Leone repels attack by ‘renegade soldiers’ on Freetown barracks

Sierra Leone repels attack by ‘renegade soldiers’ on Freetown barracks

SIERRA Leone said it had pushed "renegade soldiers" who attempted to break into a military armoury in Freetown during the early hours of Sunday back to the outskirts of the capital and had restored calm, after imposing a nationwide curfew. The West African country's civil aviation authority urged airlines to reschedule flights after the curfew was declared, while a soldier on its frontier with neighbouring Guinea told Reuters they had been instructed to shut the border. A Reuters journalist, who earlier witnessed an armed group of men commandeer a police vehicle near the Wilberforce barracks, said nearby streets were mostly empty. "We'll…
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Woman severely wounded at Sierra Leone opposition HQ after election

Woman severely wounded at Sierra Leone opposition HQ after election

A woman was severely wounded and unresponsive in Sierra Leone's opposition party headquarters as police surrounded the building during a news conference one day after the presidential election, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. The person, who Reuters could not immediately identify, was badly wounded around the neck area and had no pulse. The window of the room she was found in had a shattered hole the size of a fist, the reporter said. It is not immediately clear what happened outside the press conference or what happened to the woman. Two witnesses who were inside the building told…
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Sierra Leone abolishes death penalty

Sierra Leone abolishes death penalty

SIERRA Leone's parliament has voted unanimously to repeal the death penalty more than two decades after the West African country carried out its last execution. President Julius Maada Bio is expected to soon sign the bill into law, which will make Sierra Leone the 23rd African country to abolish capital punishment. The bill also gives judges additional discretion when issuing sentences, which opponents of capital punishment say is particularly important in cases where the person convicted is a victim of sexual violence. Sierra Leone has observed a moratorium on executions since 1998, but prisoners sentenced to death still live separately…
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