UN 'abandoned' Sierra Leone civilians

UN says its deployments are based on military needs

French aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has accused United Nations troops of failing to protect civilians in Sierra Leone.

More than 10,000 people fled when rebels attacked a government garrison in the town of Kabala on Tuesday night.

They have a mandate of protecting the civilian population - this is clearly what they didn't do

Dr Nico Heijenberg

Kenyan peacekeepers remained in their base or were evacuated, an MSF spokesman told the BBC.

MSF said the UN had pulled out 300 of its 500 troops on Wednesday following the clashes.

The UN confirmed that peacekeepers had been withdrawn, but denied any link with the fighting.

It said government forces had been able to defend the town - which is 310km (180 miles) from Freetown.

Heavy gunfire

UN spokesman David Wimhurst said the evacuation had been part of a redeployment for "sound military reasons".

"We've been pulling out over the course of the past two weeks. It was a long-term military decision to reunite the Kenyan battalion as a unit," he said.

"We don't have enough resources yet to be able to deploy more people to Kabala.

"I want to emphasise that Kabala is not an undefended town because there is a government battalion there," he added

Reports say the town is now under the control of pro-government forces following eight hours of heavy gunfire on Tuesday.

However, the Director of Operations in the Sierra Leone Army, Colonel Nelson Williams, said that there had been fresh fighting on Thursday.

Military sources said later that the nearby town of Makakura had fallen to the rebels.

Failed

Dr Nico Heijenberg, who was in Kabala when the rebels attacked, said the UN forces had failed in their duty.

Rebels launched an attack on Kabala on Tuesday

"They have a mandate of protecting the civilian population. This is clearly what they didn't do at the first attack," he said.

"Even worse, the next day they started to evacuate more of their people and their materials."

MSF's Tezera Fasil said patients and children suffering from malnutrition had been abandoned in Kabala hospital by the fleeing residents.

He said the 10 MSF staff stationed in the town had taken refuge in the bush with one of their vehicles.