U.N., Sierra Leone Police Fire on Crowd Protesting Curfew

U.N. peacekeepers and Sierra Leone police opened fire Sunday to disperse hundreds of tire-burning youths demanding the lifting of a curfew, witnesses said.

At least 13 civilians, including two children, were wounded.

British soldiers tried to calm the predawn demonstration stemming from public anger over a spate of armed robberies during curfew hours, which the government of this war-ravaged West African nation has imposed in an effort to prevent rebel attacks.

The youths said the 11 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew prevents them from protecting their neighborhoods from robberies.

The protest began about 4:30 a.m. after thieves raided a home in the densely populated eastern end of this coastal capital. Police arrived after the culprits had fled, prompting indignant youths to barricade roads with burning tires.

Witnesses said police and Nigerian U.N. peacekeepers tried to scatter the crowd by firing rifles.

At least 13 protesters were injured, most with bullet wounds, said German doctor Alec Neelsen, who operated on several demonstrators at a local hospital.