Sierra Leone junta retakes diamond fields

The military government in Sierra Leone says its forces have recaptured the key diamond-mining area of Tongo in the east, just a day after it fell to Kamajor militiamen fighting to restore the elected civilian administration.

A government spokesman said one-thousand government soldiers had launched an all-out counter-attack; he conceded that civilians had died in the offensive.

A Kamajor militia spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny the reports.

Diamond traders say that whoever controls Tongo can generate significant revenue for their war effort.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service