Two officers who were fugitives due to their alleged participation in a failed coup in Sierra Leone last November were shot dead by security forces this week, according to the government.
The information ministry said in a statement that captains Aiah Aba Senesie and T.L. Konteh were located at a hideout in the Western Area Rural District on Tuesday by special forces using “credible intelligence”.
The men were “reportedly planning further destabilising actions”, added the statement released late Tuesday.
“The fugitives resisted arrest and opened fire on the security forces. Both individuals sustained fatal injuries during the exchange,” the government said.
The statement described the men as “key fugitives involved in the failed coup of November 26, 2023”, in which armed assailants invaded a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons, and two police stations, engaging in combat with security personnel.
A total of twenty-one individuals lost their lives, and numerous prisoners fled before officials managed to reestablish control.
Authorities arrested at least 80 individuals related to the violent clashes, primarily military personnel. In July, 11 individuals were convicted of treason and various other charges linked to the assault.
Amadu Koita Makalo, a former soldier and bodyguard for ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma, received a combined sentence of 182 years in prison. The outbreak of violence raised concerns about the possibility of another military coup in West Africa, where coups have occurred in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea since 2020.
