Heavy shelling prevented relief flights from reaching Rwanda's capital Saturday and prompted the United Nations to warn it might abandon the airport if the bombardments don't stop.
Rebel mortars and rockets, seeking to silence army gunners at the airport, exploded near the tower, heavily damaged the terminal and destroyed six U.N. vehicles. No U.N. casualties were reported.Army gunners responded with heavy barrages of their own, pounding rebel positions in the city center and blocking U.N. efforts to deliver food and medicine to about 15,000 people living under U.N. protection in Kigali.
"It was a ferocious attack with mortars, small arms and multiple rocket launchers," said U.N. spokesman Abdul Kabia in Kigali.
"If we continue to receive these attacks, we will consider relocating our troops," he said. "As of now we have only a few troops and no equipment. We can only stay with the cooperation of the warring parties."
The airport is the main lifeline for bringing relief supplies into Kigali. The United Nations also plans to use it as a staging area for bringing 5,500 peacekeepers into Rwanda.
U.N. officials have been trying to negotiate with both the Hutu-led government army and the mostly Tutsi rebels for control of the airport and a "safe" perimeter around it.
Kabia said the government had agreed with conditions to give the United Nations full control of the airport area. He did not disclose the conditions.
The U.N. proposal to create a weapons-free perimeter around the airport has been complicated by rebel demands that the army abandon Kanombe camp, a government stronghold adjacent to the airport defended by three battalions.
Army soldiers defending Kanombe camp have moved some of their mortars on to the airport grounds and those positions have come under intense rebel shelling.
"If we get the government to get out, nobody will have an excuse to shoot the airport," said Kabia.
Most of Saturday's fighting centered on the airport, and most of the rebel shelling was aimed at Kanombe camp and at army guns on the airport grounds.