The pretence of peace dissolved in Sierra Leone yesterday as Mr Foday Sankoh's rebels fought their way to within 25 miles of Freetown and advanced along the main road towards the capital. The assault sent United Nations peacekeepers fleeing once again, along with thousands of refugees. But the government's newly rearmed forces claimed to be holding their own.
Amid a growing sense of crisis, the UN pledged that Freetown would not be abandoned to the brutalities of the Revolutionary United Front. "We have laid our plans and the necessary steps are being taken militarily to protect the capital. Plans have been made to ensure that Freetown remains exactly what it is called - a free town," a UN spokesman, Mr David Wimhurst, said.
The UN's promise to resist the RUF raises fresh concerns over the fate of 498 peacekeepers held by the rebels. UN officials believe the men have been dispersed beyond the areas where they were captured, making a rescue attempt all but impossible.
British officials in Freetown again called on the several hundred British, Commonwealth, EU and other citizens who qualify for evacuation to leave immediately.
The British army said it was moving UN equipment to help defend towns on the road into Freetown and flying reconnaissance flights beyond the city. It was also helping to dig in UN forces around the capital to provide, as one officer put it, some "backbone" to the peacekeepers.
But the immediate responsibility for stopping the rebels from advancing on Freetown falls to the Sierra Leone army and young Kamajor militiamen, many still in their teens and wearing charms to ward off bullets.
As hundreds of government troops and militia poured into the war zone, thousands of refugees flooded out of the town of Waterloo, 18 miles from the capital and the next rebel target.
They know only too well what happens when the RUF seizes control after the rebels briefly occupied Waterloo at the beginning of last year. Besides the systematic decapitations and shootings of anyone connected to the government, ordinary people lived in perpetual fear of gang rapes and arbitrary amputations of arms and legs by machete.
At the UN checkpoint at Jui, edgy Jordanian soldiers fingered their guns. A few feet away, Special Johnson, a 31-year-old market trader, said he was in Waterloo when the RUF occupied it last time.
"As soon as we heard the shooting last night, we knew it was time to leave. These rebels can just appear from nowhere. It's like magic. One minute they are not there and then they are everywhere," he said. "I was lucky to survive last time. It was a miracle because here I am, a man, and the rebels want men to fight or they kill them. I will not be so lucky again, so it was better to leave quickly."
The size of the rebel force bearing down on Waterloo is uncertain. Hundreds have walked out of demobilisation camps and, in some places, seized the weapons taken off them as part of the peace agreement's disarmament programme. The RUF also has several useful new additions to its armoury, including fighting vehicles and weapons taken from fleeing or captured UN forces.
The Sierra Leone army (SLA) has also rearmed itself with weapons seized from UN soldiers. The UN has not protested. "The SLA has rearmed itself in the past couple of days and we urged it to behave responsibly," Mr Wimhurst said.
AFP adds: Nigeria will not act unilaterally in Sierra Leone, but will work in co-ordination with the regional body, ECOWAS, President Olusegun Obasanjo's spokesman said yesterday.