Soldiers run past a convoy of cars in a street in Freetown, Sierra Leone, during another round of fighting RELATED VIDEO CNN's Marina Kolbe reports on the fighting Windows Media 28K 56K

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (CNN) -- After a quiet night in Sierra Leone's embattled capital, heavy fighting erupted Monday morning between rebels, who have seized parts of the city, and a Nigerian-led intervention force.

"There is continued shelling and gunfire from the central district," one witness told Reuters. "It started around 9 a.m."

Fighters from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) surprised the West African coalition force known as ECOMOG with an attack last Wednesday and overran the city's eastern districts. But reinforcements brought the number of ECOMOG troops to 15,000, and they prepared a counterattack over the weekend.

Tierney

"The troops looked well-armed and in high spirits, and there was no sense of panic," a witness said.

The fighting claimed the life of an American journalist, Associated Press Television cameraman Myles Tierney, who was caught in a sudden firefight Sunday. AP's West African bureau chief, Ian Stewart of Canada, was wounded in the attack.

Stewart

ECOMOG troops are backing beleaguered President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who has fled to the Lungi International Airport complex west of the city.

RUF troops are demanding the ouster of Kabbah, who was elected in 1996 and deposed in 1997 by a military junta backed by the rebels. ECOMOG restored Kabbah to power early last year.

The rebels have waged a fierce war against Sierra Leone's government for years, at the cost of many civilian lives.

West African governments have stepped up efforts to negotiate a cease-fire. A delegation was expected to arrive at Lungi Monday.

"We are going to meet the two parties in the conflict," said Togolese Foreign Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh.

But RUF military commander Sam Bockerie has said he will not agree to a cease-fire until he is allowed to meet with his jailed chief, Foday Sankoh. Sankoh was sentenced to death last year for treason for his role in organizing the RUF and instigating its bloody campaign.

Reuters contributed to this report.