Civilians trapped in new Liberian assault
Some hostages dying from cholera
April 16, 1996
Web posted at: 4:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT)MONROVIA, Liberia (CNN) -- Forces loyal to militia leader Charles Taylor launched a new attack Tuesday on a barracks where at least 10,000 refugees had retreated from Monrovia's violence.
Some of the people were being held hostage by fighters loyal to rival rebel leader Roosevelt Johnson.
Dozens of people, including children, fled the barracks after Taylor's men began their assault with mortar shells, truck- mounted artillery and rocket-propelled grenades. Fighters inside the barracks appeared to be repelling the attack.
Violence throughout the city was blocking food and aid shipments, and more refugees were dying from disease. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees was trying again Tuesday to send a food convoy to 5,000 refugees holed up in a former Health Ministry building and to 75 children in a shelter.
On Tuesday, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church where reporters, including Time magazine's Kirk Troy, had taken shelter. (224K AIFF sound or 224K WAV sound)
A weekend cease-fire was broken on Monday.
Cholera
The barracks has come under repeated attack since fighting in Liberia's six-year civil war escalated 10 days ago. Gunmen, some of them teen-agers, advanced toward the complex through streets littered with decomposing bodies.
A hospital medic who fled the seaside barracks said 10 people were dying there daily from cholera, and that food and water were running short.
Taylor, the most powerful member of the country's six-man ruling council, has refused to negotiate the release of peacekeepers and Lebanese civilians held hostage at the barracks.
He has demanded that Johnson surrender to the U.S. Embassy or United Nations. A government warrant for Johnson's arrest on murder charges touched off the standoff at the barracks.
Evacuations
The United States has evacuated from Liberia virtually all non-official Americans who want to leave, said State Department spokesman Glyn Davies.
He said 328 Americans have left Liberia, part of the evacuation of more than 1,800 people from third countries. About 70 helicopter flights have ferried people from Monrovia to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Davies said American officials in Monrovia were trying to verify the whereabouts of some 30 Americans who have not yet been contacted, but are known to be in the country.
A Liberian government spokesman called the emergency airlift unwarranted.
U.S. Ambassador William Milan remained behind with 18 security officers to guard the embassy compound and determine whether more flights are needed.
U.S. Navy amphibious ships are to reach Liberia's Atlantic coast later this week with 1,500 Marines, who will help secure the U.S. Embassy and its residential compound, where about 20,000 Liberians have sought shelter.
Peacekeeper troubles
Nigerian soldiers make up most of the 10,000-member West African peacekeeping force that has been stationed in Liberia for years.
On Monday, Nigeria Foreign Minister Tom Ikimi accused the United States of not providing enough aid to the mission, and warned that the soldiers may be forced to pull out because of the renewed fighting. Some of the hostages in the barracks were peacekeepers.
Many peacekeepers have been accused of ignoring or even joining in looting sprees.
Reporter Bob Coen in Sierra Leone, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Gunfire and looting continue in Liberian capital - April 15
- U.S. sends more troops to West Africa - April 10
- Americans evacuated from war-torn Liberia - April 9
- U.S. readies for possible evacuation in Monrovia - April 9
- Civilians prepare to flee Liberia as fighting continues - April 8
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