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Officials of the Sierra Leone government have disclosed that nearly 2,000 inmates escaped during Sunday\u2019s attack on a military barracks, a prison and other locations in the country.<\/p>\n

The Acting Director-General of the Sierra Leone Correctional Service, Colonel Shek Suleiman Masakui, said the attack lasted two hours.<\/p>\n

According to a situation report that prison officials shared with Reuters on Monday, some 1,890 inmates escaped from the Pademba Road central prison after the attackers broke in.<\/p>\n

Recall that the assailants had sent the West African country into a panic in the early hours when gunfire was sent ringing across the capital, Freetown.<\/p>\n

The government blamed \u201crenegade soldiers\u201d that it said had been repelled.<\/p>\n

The police, in a statement on Monday, urged inmates to return to prison, offering the public rewards for details on the whereabouts of escapees or the attackers.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the United States government and the Economic Community of West African States condemned the military breach.<\/p>\n

In a tweet on Sunday, the US Embassy in Sierra Leone expressed strong disapproval of the jailbreak as it called for cooperation with government security forces.<\/p>\n

The United States said it affirmed its support for \u201ca peaceful, democratic, and prosperous Sierra Leone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sierra Leone jailbreak: More than 1,800 prisoners escape, police place bounty on inmates<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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