Friendly fire kills 6 UN troops

A group of U.N. peacekeepers who broke through rebel lines to try to rejoin their forces were shot by Sierra Leone army soldiers who, preparing for a rebel offensive, mistook them for attackers in disguise, a government communique said today.

Six Kenyan peacekeepers were injured in the incident and were being treated at a Freetown hospital, said the communique broadcast on national radio. It was not clear how many U.N. soldiers were in the group, or whether the remaining soldiers were also in Freetown on Thursday.

The soldiers had been trapped near the town of Makeni, about 125 miles east of Freetown, for over a week following clashes with rebels began. Since then, some 500 peacekeepers have been taken captive by the rebels, and hundreds more remain free but completely surrounded.

Another group of peacekeepers broke through rebel lines near Magburaka, the report said, though it was not clear if they had made it to Freetown.

Thousands of U.N. soldiers, Sierra Leone army and pro-government militia fighters have been reinforcing the main road into this seaside capital, preparing for a feared rebel attack.

U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst said peacekeepers in Newton, some 25 miles east of Freetown and in Port Loko, about 100 kilometers (65 miles) further up a key highway, came under attack overnight by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front. The were no U.N. casualties, he said, but there were unconfirmed reports of rebel casualties, he said.

Both towns, as well as Freetown, were calm Thursday, he added.

Thousands of frightened villagers, meanwhile, continued to flock into Freetown ahead of the feared offensive.

U.N. peacekeepers, the Sierra Leone army and pro-government militia fighters were consolidating their forces along the road into the capital from Waterloo, 25 kilometers (15 miles) away, where fleeing residents said they heard the sound of gunfire Wednesday morning.

"Waterloo is now the front line," Joseph Jalloh, an army commander, said Thursday.

He said the government expected an attack there by rebel forces. The rebels - who killed thousands during a civil war that ended last July - have thrown the nation's peace process into jeopardy, taking U.N. peacekeepers hostage, clashing with pro-government forces and shooting civilian protesters in recent days.