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 | Rebels in Sierra Leone: An Indian soldier from the United Nations watches as a Royal Air Force Chinook takes off from the UN helipad near Freetown Tuesday. Over 180 British, European and Commonwealth citizens have been airlifted to Senegal away from the war torn West African state of Sierra Leone. click to open  |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: Two days after deployment to Sierra Leone, British Army soldiers patrol near the beach in the Aberdeen section of Freetown, which has been secured by British troops, Wednesday, May 10, 2000. British forces have stepped up their patrols in the west of the capital as they attempt to secure the area and evacuate British, European Union and Commonwealth citizens. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: Sierra Leonean Army soldiers en-route for Waterloo, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the capital, Freetown, Wednesday, May 10, 2000. U.N. peacekeepers, the Sierra Leone army and pro-government militia fighters were consolidating their forces along the road into the capital from Waterloo, where fleeing residents said they heard the sound of gunfire Wednesday morning. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: Two Sierra Leonean girls pass the day in front of their home in the downtown area of the capital Freetown, Wednesday, May 10, 2000. Thousands of refugees poured into Freetown on Wednesday as pro-government troops rushed to key towns near Sierra Leone's steamy seaside capital to prepare for a feared rebel attack. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: A British Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter carrying an army Landrover, prepares to land in Aberdeen, west of the capital Freetown, Sierra Leone Thursday, May 11, 2000. In London, British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon said British troops would defend Freetown's airport but would not join the U.N. force to quell any rebel threat. Hoon told the British Broadcasting Corp. the soldiers would only guard the airport to allow evacuation of British nationals and the reinforcement of the U.N. peacekeeping force. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: A Sierra Leonean Army soldier runs to get onto a truck filled with soldiers en route to the battlefront against RUF rebels, east of the village of Waterloo, Thursday, May 11, 2000, in Sierra Leone. The United Nations wants to speed deployment of additional peacekeepers scheduled to arrive by mid-July, bringing the U.N. force up to its full strength of 11,100. Washington has said the U.S. Air Force is prepared to fly in a battalion of U.N. peacekeepers from Bangladesh _ roughly 700 to 800 soldiers _ incoming days. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: Jordanian U.N. peacekeeping troops disembark from a civilian plane as they arrive in Lungi airport, Sierra Leone Friday, May 12, 2000. The troops will be carried by British RAF Chinook helicopters to nearby Freetown where they will start their duties. U.N. peacekeeping troops and pro-government forces geared up for a possible rebel advance on the nervous capital, where up to 30,000 frightened villagers have sought refuge, a U.N. humanitarian official said Friday. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: A British armored land rover takes part in a sunrise patrol on a beach on the outskirts of Freetown, Friday. Britain sent more troops to Sierra Leone on Friday, saying they could stay for at least a month, but insisted its forces would not become entangled in combat. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: Women mourn for a relative who was slain along with 18 others when RUF fighters opened fire with assault rifles on a crowd of unarmed protesters who ended a march at the house of Revolutionary United Front rebel leader Foday Sankoh earlier this week, at a mass funeral in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Friday May 12, 2000. Sankoh disappeared and his house was ransacked after the large protest march against him, and his whereabouts are unknown at this time. click to open |  | Rebels in Sierra Leone: British Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Parachute regiment make an early patrol of their temporary accomodation in the looted Conference Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Saturday, May 13, 2000. The British troops are in the West African capital to assist with the evacuation of British citizens. click to open |
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