U.K. hostages 'safe' after Sierra Leone rescue

A 1st. Royal Irish Regiment soldier celebrates with Sierra Leone troops on Thursday after they had completed training

LONDON (Reuters) -- British forces have attacked the rebel base where six soldiers were being held hostage in Sierra Leone.

General Sir Charles Guthrie, chief of Britain's defence staff, said on Sunday he believed the British hostages were safe but offered no guarantees.

"We think it's good news. We decided to attack the place where the hostages were being kept at half past six this morning. So the situation is still very confused, there is fighting going on," Guthrie told the BBC.

"But the first indications are that the hostages are safe. I don't know what condition they are in, but they are safe. I don't know whether we've had any casualties. But I do caution everybody, they have some way to go yet."

MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Sierra Leone     ALSO Key events in Sierra Leone's history

The West Side Boys, renegade former soldiers who briefly toppled elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 1997, seized 11 British soldiers and an officer of the new Sierra Leone Army on August 25.

They subsequently freed five of the soldiers.

The kidnapped British soldiers were members of a special force training the new Sierra Leone Army.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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