The UN peacekeeping mission in  Ivory Coast raised the alarm Tuesday about the use of heavy weapons, including  machine guns and mortars, against civilians in a bloody post-election dispute.
   

The United Nations also blasted an "unacceptable" shortfall in aid  for the west African country as thousands flee growing unrest that has left at  least 440 people dead since November elections that two men both claim to have  won.
   

The UN Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) has been accused of failing  to protect civilians from clashes between forces backing widely recognised  president Alassane Ouattara and those of strongman Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses  to give up power.
   

UNOCI said it was "extremely concerned about the increased use of  heavy weapons, including machine guns and mortars, by the Special Forces loyal  to President Laurent Gbagbo's camp against the civilian population in  Abidjan."
   

In a statement, it added: "Recently, the mission has observed that  this camp is repairing an MI-24 attack helicopter in the military wing of  Abidjan airport and is also getting BM21 multiple rocket launchers ready in  Abidjan."
   

The use of heavy weapons against civilians could lead to charges of  crimes against humanity, it said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has said in the past that he would pursue those responsible if deadly violence breaks out in Ivory Coast. Although the West African country is not a party to the ICC, in 2003 the government made a declaration accepting the ICC's jurisdiction.

The United Nations last week documented the deaths of up to 30  civilians when Gbagbo's security forces launched mortar attacks on a market in  Abidjan.
   

The violence will take centre stage at an Abuja summit Wednesday  and Thursday of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which  has threatened military intervention against Gbagbo unless he steps aside.
   

Ivory Coast was suspended from ECOWAS in December when the bloc  recognised Ouattara as president and threatened the use of force if Gbagbo did  not step down peacefully.
   

In an open letter Tuesday to ECOWAS leaders, the International  Crisis Group urged the creation of a military mission to protect civilians,  warning an impending civil war could involve "ethnic cleansing and other mass  atrocity crimes".
   

The think tank said ECOWAS should offer Gbagbo a final chance for a  peaceful departure "while actively preparing to oust his regime by all  necessary means before it is too late".
    "Daily attacks on civilians, including reports of forced  disappearances, rapes and torture, continue, and the death toll far exceeds  the UN's confirmed count of 440 dead," the ICG letter read.
    "Cote d'Ivoire is no longer on the brink of civil war; it has  already begun."
   

Ouattara's government has urged the UN Security Council "to  authorise the immediate use of legitimate force to protect civilians in  imminent danger," charging that the 10,000-strong UNOCI is not doing enough to  protect them.
   

Spokesman Hamadan Toure defended the mission, which is expecting  reinforcements of 2,000 men. "UNOCI is doing all it can, according to its  mandate and resources, to protect the population," he said.
   

The mission also faces a barrage of criticism from Gbagbo's camp,  which has demanded it leave the country, accusing it of bias towards Ouattara,  and which regularly vilifies the force in state media as the "enemy of Ivory  Coast."
   

As a result, UN vehicles have been burned and its "blue helmets"  targeted by Gbagbo supporters.
   

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)  in Geneva meanwhile slammed an "unacceptable" funding shortfall, saying it had  received only $7 million of the $32 million for the Ivory Coast that it had  appealed for in January.