Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 31, 2002
Liberian Rebels Kill over 20 Officers in Ambush
Liberia's rebels have killed more than 20 military officers in an ambush in the northwest of the country, according to reports reaching Lagos on Thursday from Monrovia, capital of Liberia.
Liberia's rebels have killed more than 20 military officers in an ambush in the northwest of the country, according to reports reaching Lagos on Thursday from Monrovia, capital of Liberia.
The reports said rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) last Monday ambushed two military jeeps carrying officers from an elite presidential guard, the Anti- Terrorist Unit, near Gbah, a keytown about 40 kilometers northwest of the capital.
The dead were moved to a military hospital in Monrovia, the reports said.
Meanwhile, military officers Wednesday said the LURD rebels and the government forces continued fighting tooth and nail for Tubmanburg, which the LURD rebels wanted to make as their headquarters in a diamond-rich zone.
The LURD rebels used Tubmanburg, a town 60 kilometers northwest of the capital, as battlefront to attack Gbah but they were rolled back by the troops, the military officers said.
This conflict is the latest round of fighting to rock the diamond-rich triangle of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Thousands of people have fled their homes as the fighting has intensified in recent months.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), some 35,000 Liberian refugees have crossed border into Sierra Leone since an upsurge insurgency in recent weeks in Liberia.
The Liberian government has ruled out a ceasefire or negotiations with the rebel LURD, saying that these would " legitimize" its foes.