Sierra Leone troops 'killing civilians'

Government troops have been accused of attacking civilians

An international human rights group has appealed to Britain to stop forces loyal to the Sierra Leone Government from killing civilians in the war against rebels.

Human Rights Watch said that helicopter gunships operated by loyalist forces had attacked crowds, killing at least 27 people in May and June alone, and displaced tens of thousands of people.

The British Government said it had no information about the reports, but it agreed that the Sierra Leone army should be made into a properly disciplined and effective force which tried to minimise casualties.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, said that since Britain trained, advised, and in some cases directed the Sierra Leone government army, it had a role to play in ensuring that it respected humanitarian law.

The forces who operate the helicopters form an integral part of the Sierra Leonean army - though they include at least one foreign pilot.

Bombing civilians

Britain intervened on the government side in the war in May, to counter advances by rebels widely condemned for massive atrocities against civilians.

British troops have been helping the government army

But Human Rights Watch said that the government army should also be reined in when it committed excesses.

The lobby group said government helicopter gunships had on some occasions been dropping bombs at the same time as dropping leaflets warning civilians to leave the area.

On some occasions the bombing occurred at the same time as the gun ship was dropping leaflets, which warned civilians to leave the area.

Human rights

The BBC's West Africa correspondent, Mark Doyle, says that the Sierra Leone government's helicopter gunships are the most powerful weapons in its armoury, without which the rebels could possibly win the war.

Most criticism has been directed at the rebels

Crew members on the gunships, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told the BBC that they regret any civilian deaths but they said that the rebels deliberately used civilians as human shields.

British officials in London said that one of the reasons why British soldiers were running training courses in Sierra Leone was to help ensure that local troops respected human rights.

The British Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, has announced that a second training team will be going to Sierra Leone at the end of the month to carry out another six-week course.

He also said that Britain would provide personal equipment and more ammunition for the government army; officials said it was supplied on condition it was used in accordance with the rules of war.

Most criticism of human rights abuses in Sierra Leone has been directed at the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front, who gained notoriety during the course of Sierra Leone's eight-year civil war for the murder, rape and mutilation of civilians, including children.