Sixteen Sierra Leonean soldiers are in Guinean custody after Guinea accused them of stepping across the frontier and planting their national flag on territory it considers its own.
Guinea’s military said the group moved into Koudaya in the Faranah region without clearance. In a statement released late Tuesday, the Ministry of National Defense alleged the soldiers entered the district and “set up a tent and raised their national flag”. Authorities said their equipment and other supplies were confiscated.
Sierra Leone had earlier acknowledged that members of one of its security units had been detained. According to Sierra Leonean officials, the group, including an officer, was in Kalieyereh in Falaba district on Monday producing bricks for a border post when they were apprehended.
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The episode adds another layer to a dispute that has simmered for more than twenty years. The roots trace back to the Sierra Leonean Civil War from 1991 to 2002, when Sierra Leone invited Guinean forces to help secure its eastern flank.
While the war ended, questions over troop withdrawal and demarcation lingered, leaving the boundary a recurring flashpoint, according to AP’s report.
Tensions flared again last year when Guinean troops moved into a mineral rich town along the border inside Sierra Leone, reviving anxieties in both capitals over sovereignty and control of the contested zone.
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