Military

Speaking to the press in New York, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that the Nigerian soldier had been killed in an exchange of fire on 16 July, when his patrol ran into suspected RUF combatants near Rogberi Junction in western Sierra Leone. "The incident took place Sunday and his body was recovered yesterday," the spokesman said.

The UN Security Council, which was briefed this morning by a senior UN peacekeeping official on the latest developments in Sierra Leone, expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased soldier and to the Government of Nigeria, according to the Council President, Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica.

On the humanitarian front, UN officials reported that the health situation for displaced civilians in the town of Mile 91 continued to deteriorate due to poor water and sanitation conditions. A key obstacle to expanding programmes in Mile 91 has been the lack of Ministry of Health staff, who left due to security concerns, spokesman Fred Eckhard said. He added that the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and a non-governmental organization were in the process of distributing 700 metric tonnes of food in one-month rations to about 60,000 internally displaced people in the area.