Thousands of Liberians flee amid new fighting
Salala, Liberia ? Civilians were fleeing refugee camps north of Monrovia by the tens of thousands Wednesday, sent running by sounds of gunfire and mortars, and rumor of attacks nearby.
The upheaval was the latest that has kept the countryside north of Monrovia in turmoil, despite calm in the capital itself under a month-old West African peace force and an Aug. 18 peace deal.
On Wednesday, uprooted families with bundles on their heads filled the roads around Salala, a town on the main highway, 45 miles north of the capital.
About 15,000 fleeing people had arrived in the town by midday, according to aid workers for the Lutheran World Service.
The aid group was trying to provide temporary shelter here.
Many of those fleeing came from refugee camps to the north that had housed about 60,000 people.
Refugees said they ran away Tuesday after hearing mortars and gunfire. They said rumors had reached the camps of fighting at the nearby town of Zensu.
The area is home to two strongholds of now-ousted President Charles Taylor, who had made a base at the provincial capital of Gbarnga and put his most-feared forces at the town of Gbatala.
Persistent reports of clashes there have reached Monrovia for weeks.
The scale of any fighting is unclear, and many suspect fighters are making last grabs at territory or loot before peacekeepers’ eventual deployment in the interior.
Faced with the latest flight of refugees, new Liberian President Moses Blah met with U.S. Ambassador John Blaney and West African peace force leaders Wednesday to urge them to work toward calm in the north.
“The war should be over; we have all agreed that the war is over; there is no need to continue fighting,” Blah told The Associated Press afterward.
The West African peace force, nearing 3,000 strong, has said it was awaiting arrival of a contingent of troops from Ghana before it can start moving deeper into the countryside.
The Red Cross and other aid groups traveled north Wednesday, taking aid — including high-protein biscuits — to the refugees.