UN and Sierra Leonean forces begin joint border operations

Troops from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) have launched a joint border operation with local police and air force units, designed to increase security in the frontier with Liberia, and to enhance Sierra Leone’s armed forces’ capabilities.

In a dispatch from the capital Freetown, UNAMSIL said the exercise, named “Operation Blue Vigilance,” began Monday in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF).

“Operation Vigilance Blue will increase UNAMSIL forces and the national security agencies’ presence along the border with Liberia, thereby preventing potential infiltrations of Liberian combatants into Sierra Leone,” the Mission said.

“Information gathered at the end of the first phase of Operation Blue Vigilance will be handed over to UNAMSIL…and to Sierra Leonean security agencies for further operations designed to enhance the capability the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces along the border,” the statement said.

The Security Council agreed on 19 September to extend for six months the mandate of UNAMSIL, instructing it to continue a gradual drawdown of the peacekeeping force without jeopardizing the security situation in the country torn apart by a decade-long civil war.

At that time, the Council welcomed the increasing security in Sierra Leone and encouraged “further progress towards strengthening the capacity of the Sierra Leone Police and armed forces to maintain security and stability independently.”