Liberia's Gov't Troops Push Rebels Back from Central Monrovia

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, June 27, 2003

Liberia's Gov't Troops Push Rebels Back from Central Monrovia

Liberia's government troops on Thursday pushed rebels back from the edge of central Monrovia, according to a report reaching here from the Liberian capital.

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Liberia's government troops on Thursday pushed rebels back from the edge of central Monrovia, according to a report reaching here from the Liberian capital.

Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea was quoted as saying that troops loyal to President Charles Taylor "pushed back the rebels from the Freeport area to Duala, about a mile (1.6 km) away."

The Liberian government said some 300 people were killed and another 1,000 injured in the fighting.

Fighting was reportedly concentrated in Vai Town, a commercial neighborhood between the city center and Monrovia's port.

The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said that it had treated more than 150 wounded. Another 200 wounded were treated at the John F. Kennedy Hospital, officials said.

Mortar rounds fell around downtown government offices and in populated areas, including a residential compound belonging to the US embassy.

A witness said seven people were killed and three injured when two rockets fell in the compound.

Humanitarian agencies estimated the number of people displaced by the fighting at some 200,000, with many either living on the streets or moving toward greater safety as the fighting subsided in the city center.

The chief mediator, former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar who described the fighting as "senseless", called on the warring factions to respect the June 17 ceasefire accord signed between them.

The Liberian civil war, which lasted about 15 years and claimed at least 200,000 lives, flared up again in 1998 following attacks launched by the LURD rebels in northern Liberia.

Civil war over the past decade has made Liberia among the most miserable places in the world and the latest unrest since 1998 has forced some 300,000 Liberians to flee to neighboring countries and claimed thousands of lives.

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