Twenty killed in Sierra Leone attack and nearly 2,000 prisoners escape

Julius Maada Bio has declared a nationwide curfew after gunmen attacked an army barracks in Sierra Leone’s capital (Seth Wenig/AP)

Umaru Fofana

Twenty people were killed and nearly 2,000 inmates escaped during Sunday's attack on a military barracks, a prison and other locations in Sierra Leone, officials said on Monday.

The West African country was thrown into panic in the early hours when the assailants sent gunfire ringing across the capital Freetown. The government blamed "renegade soldiers" that it said had been repelled.