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Sierra Leone says security force members apprehended by Guinea’s military following border incursion

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Sierra Leone’s government on Tuesday said that several members of a security team, including an officer, were apprehended and transported over the border by members of Guinea’s military.

For more than two decades, the West African countries have been involved in a border dispute that stemmed from the Sierra Leonean civil war between 1991 and 2002. Sierra Leone’s government had invited Guinea to help defend its eastern borders during the war, but the Guinean troops didn’t completely withdraw after the war.

Last year, the Guinean military entered a mineral-rich border town in Sierra Leone, sparking regional concerns.

The latest incident, according to a statement by the Sierra Leonean government, happened on Monday at the border town of Kalieyereh in Falaba district, where it said members of its armed forces and police were working on “making bricks for the construction of a border post and accommodation facility” for the border post.

The weapons and ammunition of the apprehended members of the security team were also taken, the government said. The statement didn’t provide an exact number of how many people were taken into Guinea.

The “government is actively engaging through established diplomatic and security channels to confirm their location and secure their safe and unconditional release,” the statement said.

Guinean authorities didn’t immediately comment on the incident.

Sierra Leone said its national flag was hoisted in the town in which the incident on Monday incident, and the territory is recognized as belonging to Sierra Leone.

Australian watchdog files legal action against Telegram, saying it failed to remove violent content

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog has filed legal action against messaging app Telegram, saying the platform failed to remove extremist content including videos of white supremacist mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and the New Zealand city of Christchurch as well as Islamic State group beheadings. The United Arab Emirates-based app, which reports having 1 billion users worldwide, faces a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars ($38 million) if convicted in the Australian Federal Court for “alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday. The civil action is a test of Australia's 2021 law requiring tech platforms to work to keep illegal and pro-terrorism material off their networks. Telegram denied the claims. “We reject these allegations and will contest them in court,” a spokesperson said in a written statement sent on Telegram.
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