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U.S. sends more troops to West Africa

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April 10, 1996
Web posted at: 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT)

MONROVIA, Liberia (CNN) -- About 160 people, including more than 90 U.S. citizens, have been airlifted out of the Liberia capital of Monrovia, Pentagon sources told CNN Wednesday.

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The Pentagon, which has named the evacuation "Operation Assured Response," says citizens of Britain, Ireland, France, Canada, and Australia made up the rest of the evacuees. A dozen countries, most of them European, have asked the United States for assistance in getting their citizens out.

Sources say the State Department told the Pentagon to plan on evacuating at least 2,000 citizens from other countries.

The evacuations have been slowed by heavy rain, but U.S. military helicopters were to continue their mission throughout the day. Before the evacuations began, there were about 450 Americans in Liberia. About 110 Americans were stationed at the embassy.

Evacuees are being transported to Freetown, the capital of neighboring Sierra Leone. From there, special forces are taking people to Dakar, Senegal, where they can catch commercial airline flights.

Pentagon sources say the evacuation has been orderly and without opposition from Monrovian rebel forces.

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There was heavy fighting in Monrovia overnight, but the capital was calm Wednesday morning, said Dudley Sims, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia.

Conflicting reports suggest a cease-fire agreement has been reached between Liberian government troops and rebels. But CNN could not confirm that.

The rebels have been holding hundreds of Liberians, Lebanese and other civilian hostages as well as African peacekeepers at a military base in Monrovia.

The conflict among seven rebel factions has killed more than 150,000 people in Liberia and left at least half the country's 2.3 million residents homeless in six years of war.

Security bolstered at embassy

A U.S. Army military assessment team of six special forces personnel and a security enhancement team of 18 Navy SEALS were sent to Monrovia to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy, said Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon.

An Army paratrooper unit from Vicenza, Italy, is heading to Freetown Wednesday. They will join about 500 U.S. troops and personnel already stationed there. More helicopters are scheduled to arrive in Freetown as well.

The United States also is sending more support troops to Dakar, where about 100 American troops are now stationed.

Fiercest fighting in three years

Fighting in the impoverished country founded by freed American slaves broke out Saturday when government troops tried to force rebel leader Roosevelt Johnson from his suburban Monrovia home.

Johnson was recently dismissed from the six-member ruling Liberian council, set up under the most recent peace deal. Its members include main faction leaders and civilians.

The U.N. Security Council has urged the rival factions to release all hostages unharmed and to re-establish a cease-fire agreement. The Council warned that if the warring factions do not comply soon, Liberia risks losing the support of the international community.

Up to 20,000 Liberian civilians, fearing that the clashes will grow into a full-scale civil war, have taken shelter in a U.S. embassy annex. Diplomats said some overseas-based nationals are in the main U.S. embassy compound.

Asked if U.S. citizens were in any danger there, Bacon said, "My understanding is that the two factions -- the two major factions -- have made it clear that they are not interested in attacking Americans. They are interested in attacking each other."

CNN Correspondents Jim Clancy and Jamie McIntyre, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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