LaNUBlog™

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, and has rapidly become the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976. In fact, the current epidemic sweeping across the region has now killed more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined. Up to 8 October, 4,033 people had been reported as having died from the disease in five countries; Liberia,

Sierra Leone, in West Africa, emerged from a decade of civil war in 2002, with the help of Britain, the former colonial power, and a large United Nations peacekeeping mission. More than 17,000 foreign troops disarmed tens of thousands of rebels and militia fighters. A decade on, the country has made progress towards reconciliation, but poverty and unemployment are still major challenges. A lasting feature of the war, in which tens of thousands died, were the atrocities committed by the rebels, whose trademark was to hack off the hands or feet of their victims. Sierra Leone has sandy beaches fringed by lush, forested hills A UN-backed war crimes court was set up to try those from both sides who bore the greatest responsibility for the brutalities. Its last case ended in The Hague in April 2012, with judges finding former Liberian leader Charles Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes in the Sierra Leone civil war. At a glance *. Politics: Sierra Leone is recovering from a...

Freetown - Sierra Leone officials say they are bolstering security in response to the heightened threat posed by the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabaab, expressing concern the West African nation could be targeted because of its support for peacekeeping operations in Somalia. Francis Munu, police inspector general, said at a meeting on Wednesday that new security measures would require government offices to issue identity cards for their staff and maintain visitors' logs, while petty traders would be kept away from government buildings. Sierra Leone deployed an 850-member battalion to the African Union mission in Somalia earlier this year. The new measures are in response to al-Shabaab's attack on a Kenyan mall last month in retaliation for Kenya sending troops into Somalia nearly two years ago. The attack killed more than 60 people.