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Up to 700 killed in recent fighting in Liberia: Minister
Monorvia, July 22: Fighting raged unabated today in Liberia`s war-wracked capital Monrovia where defence minister Daniel Chea said civilian casualties approached 700 in recent days and West African ministers prepared to address the crisis in Dakar.
Monorvia, July 22: Fighting raged unabated today in Liberia's war-wracked capital Monrovia where defence minister Daniel Chea said civilian casualties approached 700
in recent days and West African ministers prepared to address the crisis in Dakar.
"The toll is well above the 600 mark and could be 700," Chea told a news agency, adding that "at least 60 civilians were killed" in brutal fighting yesterday when mortars rained over Monrovia.
"The rebels are still shelling our positions," he said, adding that fierce fighting was going on early today in Vai town, on the northern side of Monrovia. Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels have vowed to carry on their fight until they control all of Monrovia, where tens of thousands of people are living rough amid acute shortages of food, water and medicines.
In the Senegalese capital Dakar today, foreign and defense ministers of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- which has pledged to send an initial contingent of up to 1,500 soldiers to Liberia -- were to begin a two-day security meeting sponsored by the US State Department. Meanwhile, the US has announced that 4,500 sailors and marines from the horn of Africa and the Red Sea were being sent to the Mediterranean, where they could sail to Liberia in as little as seven to 10 days.
Bureau Report
"The rebels are still shelling our positions," he said, adding that fierce fighting was going on early today in Vai town, on the northern side of Monrovia. Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels have vowed to carry on their fight until they control all of Monrovia, where tens of thousands of people are living rough amid acute shortages of food, water and medicines.
In the Senegalese capital Dakar today, foreign and defense ministers of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- which has pledged to send an initial contingent of up to 1,500 soldiers to Liberia -- were to begin a two-day security meeting sponsored by the US State Department. Meanwhile, the US has announced that 4,500 sailors and marines from the horn of Africa and the Red Sea were being sent to the Mediterranean, where they could sail to Liberia in as little as seven to 10 days.
Bureau Report