Government forces hope to recapture Lunsar

Government forces are rushing reinforcements towards the strategic northern town of Lunsar captured on Wednesday by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), local news organisations said.

Lunsar fell just two days after government forces seized it on Monday, and its rapid loss is seen as a setback to the advance on the main RUF-held town of Makeni, some 60 km north through lightly forested land, most of it savannah. Newspaper reports on Thursday alleged that the RUF had used armoured vehicles captured from UN peacekeepers to attack Lunsar, a claim
UN security sources dismissed as "highly unlikely".

Pro-government forces have blamed their lack of equipment and supplies at the front for the military reversal.

"We are aware of the problems they face, but our role in this country is to try and resolve this situation peacefully," UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) spokesman David Wimhurst said in response to local appeals for a more supportive UN military role.

A British military spokesman told IRIN that the setback was not an embarrassment for the British army, which is providing training and support for the government forces. "The SLA (Sierra Leone Army) has come a long way in the last couple of weeks," he said. "No one said it was going to be an incident-free campaign."