UN vows 'tough action' against troops accused of sex abuse

The head of the UN mission in Central African Republic (CAR) has promised to take tough action over allegations that peacekeepers sexually abused four young girls in the capital, Bangui, AFP news agency reports. 

 "We have come to this country to help a population which is already traumatised. It is absolutely unacceptable for even a single peacekeeping soldier to be involved in these awful acts," Parfait Onanga-Anyanga said at a news conference in Bangui, it reports. 

"Where there is doubt we will take the side of the victims," he added, vowing that "the sanctions will be strong when we have established who is responsible". 

The girls had been interviewed by investigators from the UN children's agency, Unicef, and the countries from where the troops came - believed to be Gabon, Egypt and Morocco - had also been asked to conduct an investigation, AFP reports. 

It quotes Mr Onanga-Anyanga as saying that the soldiers were "not only those of  Minusca", the acronym for the UN force in CAR. 

But an officer with the French armed forces - the only other foreign military mission in the country - said they were not aware of any new case against them, the agency reports.