Guinea, bordering the war-ravaged countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia, has suffered 15 insurgent attacks that have killed some 360 people during the past year, according to the Guinean government. The attacks are believed to have come from Liberia and Sierra Leone. Uncounted numbers of Guineans have become internally displaced in the widening violence, and the number of uprooted people could grow if attacks continue. The U.S. Committee for Refugees has called on the international community to respond with greater urgency to the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Guinea, and to take all necessary steps to protect an estimated 400,000 refugees from other countries who live in Guinea and face special protection problems. Guinean troops allege that they shot down a Liberian military helicopter last Wednesday along the border between the two countries.
Liberian officials deny the incident occurred.
The governments of Guinea and Liberia have regularly accused each other of supporting armed attacks in border areas. The newest allegations, true or not, are certain to heighten military tensions and will create greater risks for residents and refugees who inhabit border villages and camps. The widening cross-border violence has begun to destabilize Guinea and has triggered a violent backlash in recent weeks against the hundreds of thousands of Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees who have sought protection in Guinea from years of bloodshed in their own countries. After years of relative hospitality toward refugees on their soil, Guinean authorities and segments of Guinean society increasingly blame the refugee population for bringing the violence of Sierra Leone and Liberia into Guinea. Guinean officials currently accuse Sierra Leonean refugees of harboring Sierra Leone's notorious Revolutionary United Front rebels - a dubious accusation given that the refugees originally fled to Guinea to escape those same rebels.