Accurate figures of the numbers of refugees are impossible to come by as the rebel offensive has cut off the country's capital, Freetown, from parts of the provinces.

The rebels have not yet gained a foothold in the capital

But aid workers, speaking on condition on anonymity, say that tens of thousands of people are on the move.

Around 40,000 refugees - settled in a camp at the central town of Masingbay because of earlier hostilities - scattered following a rebel raid.

Other known movements include 4,000 people heading for the northern government-held town of Kambia, while several thousand more have arrived in the government-held city of Bo in the south.

Less than last time

The aid workers report that the number of people displaced is relatively small compared with the half million Sierra Leoneans who fled hostilities before the recent rebel offensive.

The rebels' tactic of maiming victims is being abandoned

Reporting from Freetown, the BBC's West Africa Correspondent, Mark Doyle, says this may be because the rebels appear to have changed their tactics.

Last year they conducted a terror campaign, mutilating thousands of civilians by chopping off body parts.

Medical sources say that large-scale mutilation of civilians has stopped and that the rebels appear to be trying to convince people to stay in the areas they control.

Truck drivers say the rebels have cut off large areas in the north of the country but highways leading to the south are open as usual.

The drivers' report, collated by their trade union, provides a rare, independent account of the conflict.

Ecomog reinforcements

Ecomog - the West African force is defending the government, backed by pro-government militia.

But the rebels have taken a string of towns in the north of the country in an offensive which began late in December 1998.

So far, the Nigerian-led troops appear to have prevented the rebels from entering the capital, Freetown.