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Liberian govt trades accusations with rebels on massacre
Compound Number One, Liberia, Aug 25: Liberia`s government and rebels traded charges of violating a peace deal, and state radio accused rebels of committing a massacre, quoting one source as saying about 1,000 people had died.
Compound Number One, Liberia, Aug 25: Liberia's government and rebels traded charges of violating a peace deal, and state radio accused rebels of committing a massacre, quoting one source as saying about 1,000 people had died.
The reports of the massacre in Nimba county, far from the capital Monrovia, could not be immediately confirmed. Nor was it clear when it might have occurred.
''There has been a massacre in Bahn, Nimba county, by model rebels,'' the Liberia broadcasting system reported, referring to the smaller of the West African nation's two rebel factions. It quoted a VHF radio operator saying around 1,000 people had died.
Security sources in Monrovia said they had reports of many people killed during fighting in the area, but said fighting there involved the other larger rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). Bahn is a some 240 km northeast of Monrovia.
Rebel officials could not be reached for immediate comment. Government ministers reached by reporters said they had not heard the reports of the massacre, which are likely to put added strain on a peace agreement signed last week in Ghana.
Government forces and LURD fighters accused each other of keeping up attacks on each others' positions at another location some 50 km (31 miles) west of Bahn, in violation of the accord.
The accord signed by both sides last Monday was designed to end 14 years of bloodshed, but although violence around Monrovia has been reduced, clashes have continued elsewhere.
Thousands of civilians fled towards Monrovia on Saturday after gun and mortar fire near the rebel-held second city of Buchanan, and government forces reported more clashes on Sunday.
''They came to attack us...This morning....They are trying to push me from here, but we're not going to move,'' said General Kay Friday, 23, Government commander in the Compound Number One area, some 80 km from Monrovia.
Bureau Report
The reports of the massacre in Nimba county, far from the capital Monrovia, could not be immediately confirmed. Nor was it clear when it might have occurred.
''There has been a massacre in Bahn, Nimba county, by model rebels,'' the Liberia broadcasting system reported, referring to the smaller of the West African nation's two rebel factions. It quoted a VHF radio operator saying around 1,000 people had died.
Security sources in Monrovia said they had reports of many people killed during fighting in the area, but said fighting there involved the other larger rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). Bahn is a some 240 km northeast of Monrovia.
Rebel officials could not be reached for immediate comment. Government ministers reached by reporters said they had not heard the reports of the massacre, which are likely to put added strain on a peace agreement signed last week in Ghana.
Government forces and LURD fighters accused each other of keeping up attacks on each others' positions at another location some 50 km (31 miles) west of Bahn, in violation of the accord.
The accord signed by both sides last Monday was designed to end 14 years of bloodshed, but although violence around Monrovia has been reduced, clashes have continued elsewhere.
Thousands of civilians fled towards Monrovia on Saturday after gun and mortar fire near the rebel-held second city of Buchanan, and government forces reported more clashes on Sunday.
''They came to attack us...This morning....They are trying to push me from here, but we're not going to move,'' said General Kay Friday, 23, Government commander in the Compound Number One area, some 80 km from Monrovia.
Bureau Report