Thousands flee fighting in Sierra Leone

Thousands of people are fleeing fighting in northern Sierra Leone between government and rebel forces.

They fled the city of Makeni after a Sierra Leone helicopter gunship dropped leaflets warning of an impending offensive against the rebels.

A BBC correspondent who's been to the frontline says government troops have already attacked rebel positions around Makeni and some twenty-thousand people from there have fled to the town of Mile 91 -- where they are destitute and lacking food, shelter and medical care. The Red Cross is providing some emergency aid and the United Nations is preparing to arrange for more.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service