Officials from Guinea released 16 detained security personnel from Sierra Leone on Friday following diplomatic talks aimed at reducing tensions in an ongoing territorial disagreement between the West African neighbors.
The detained individuals were freed after Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba held discussions with Guinea’s Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah in Conakry, according to two officials who requested anonymity since neither government has made official public announcements yet.
Representatives from Sierra Leone’s information ministry and Guinea’s government have not responded to requests for statements regarding the situation.
Earlier this week, Sierra Leone officials alleged that Guinea had detained multiple members of their security forces. According to Sierra Leone’s information ministry, army and police personnel were building a border checkpoint and additional infrastructure in the Sierra Leonean border town of Kaliyereh when Guinean military forces intervened.
Guinea presented a different account, stating that several dozen armed Sierra Leonean soldiers had crossed into Guinean territory without proper authorization, leading their military to detain 16 individuals and confiscate their equipment.
This border disagreement stems from unresolved territorial issues that began during Sierra Leone’s devastating civil conflict from 1991 to 2002, a period when Guinea sent military forces to assist in fighting rebel groups.
