A renegade group holding eleven British troops in Sierra Leone, including ten from Northern Ireland, has demanded food, medicine and the release of one of its imprisoned leaders in return for freeing the captives. One senior official said that negotiations were underway with the West Side Boys, a group of former soldiers linked to the military junta that ruled the country between 1997 and 1998. It is understood all the families of the soldiers from the North have been contacted.
The soldiers are thought to have been captured on Friday outside the capital, Freetown. They are from the first battalion of the regiment and were sent to Sierra Leone three weeks ago to replace troops from the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The first battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment is a general service battalion meaning soldiers will do tours of duty in different parts of the world, and are not restricted to the North. It has been based at Canterbury for the past year. The regimental headquarters are at St Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena, County Antrim.
The British Ministry of Defence said that one of the captured soldiers contacted his headquarters to say that they were in good health and being well looked after. The Ministry says that there are well-practised procedures for dealing with the situation and that it is doing all it can to have the eleven men returned safely.
