Tensions are rising between Conakry and Freetown. On Tuesday, Guinea officially confirmed the arrest of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers . While both capitals acknowledge the incident, their accounts of the circumstances surrounding the arrests diverge sharply, with each country accusing the other of territorial violations.

Two versions of the same incident

The dispute hinges on the exact location and nature of the soldiers' activities at the time of the events:

1. Freetown's version: The Sierra Leonean government claims its forces were on its own soil, in the town of Kalieyereh (Falaba district). The agents were busy making bricks for the construction of a future border post. According to them, the Guinean army crossed the border to arrest the soldiers and police officers, seizing weapons and ammunition in the process.
2. Conakry's version: The Guinean military maintains, on the contrary, that several dozen foreign soldiers illegally entered the Koudaya district, on Guinean territory. They allegedly "set up a tent and raised their flag." It was following this incursion that 16 of them were captured.

A legacy of historical tensions

This latest clash is part of a context of persistent territorial disputes along the 700 kilometers of shared border .

Did you know? These tensions date back to the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002). At the time, Guinea deployed troops to help its neighbor secure its borders, but the complete withdrawal of these forces never materialized, leaving behind geographical gray areas that are still contested today.