Fatal ambush in Sierra Leone

Government troops have had skirmishes in the area

Four government soldiers and two foreign journalists have been killed in a rebel ambush in Sierra Leone.

The journalists were travelling in army trucks when they came under fire near the strategic Rogberi Junction about 80 km (50 miles) north-east of the capital, Freetown.

The message that (the journalists) uncovered in Sierra Leone is that the killing has not stopped

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

The journalists who died were Reuters correspondent Kurt Schork and Miguel Gil Moreno, a Spanish cameraman who worked for the Associated Press.

Schork was a distinguished correspondent who reported from conflicts around the world, including Bosnia and East Timor.

Moreno won an award for filming the war in Kosovo. He was the only foreign cameraman to stay on throughout the Nato bombing campaign last year.

Miguel Gil Moreno had filmed the war in Kosovo

Two other Reuters journalists - South African cameraman Mark Chisholm and Greek photographer Yannis Behrakis - suffered slight injuries in the same attack.

It is believed they were ambushed by rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

Pro-government forces in Sierra Leone have been fighting the RUF, which took hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers hostage early in May and then launched an advance towards Freetown.

Government forces have been slowly repelling the rebels from the capital since then.

'Taking risks'

The journalists who were injured in Wednesday's attack were taken by Jordanian peacekeepers to a field hospital before being flown on to Freetown.

Their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "saddened" by news of the casualties.

Bodies found at Rogberi could add six to UN toll

"They were doing what other journalists are doing around the world - taking risks so that the rest of us can keep informed.

"The message that they uncovered in Sierra Leone is that the killing has not stopped," he said in a statement.

Mr Annan called for an end to the "senseless violence that is tearing Sierra Leone apart".

There has been fierce fighting around Rogberi Junction for several days, but the area was reported to have been quiet for the last 48 hours.

It is near where six bodies all wearing UN uniforms were discovered on Monday.

One of the dead Nigerian peacekeepers is flown home

The task of identifying those corpses is proving more difficult because of the lack of forensic experts within Sierra Leone.

The UN has confirmed that six of its peacekeepers, from Nigeria and Kenya, have been killed in other clashes this month with Foday Sankoh's RUF rebels.

The rebels are still holding more than 250 UN peacekeepers hostage.

Hope for hostages

Mr Annan said earlier that he hoped most of the captured peacekeepers would be released by this weekend.

The UN secretary-general said he had spoken to the Liberian President Charles Taylor, who has played a key role in negotiating the release of scores of UN peacekeepers.

But President Taylor, who has close contacts with the RUF rebels, has raised fresh questions about the future by arguing that Mr Sankoh, who is currently under arrest, should still be a factor in the peace process in Sierra Leone.