Heavy Fighting Puts Liberian Capital in Panic

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 20, 2003

Heavy Fighting Puts Liberian Capital in Panic

Liberia's capital shivered in panic Saturday after rebels pushed on to reach a strategic bridge leading into Monrovia, reports said.

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Liberia's capital shivered in panic Saturday after rebels pushed on to reach a strategic bridge leading into Monrovia, reports said.

The sound of rockets, artillery and heavy machine gun fire could be heard at the Saint Paul's Bridge, about 10 km from the city.

Thousands of residents fled towards the center of Monrovia fromneighborhoods in the northwestern districts in fear of a new bloodbath.

The authorities, trying to avoid a complete collapse of a month-old ceasefire, had sent reinforcements to the area, sources said.

Two rebel groups are fighting to oust Taylor and his government.The renewed fighting broke out in late June between the rebels andthe Liberian government troops had left some 700 people dead and over 1,000 injured, making it the worst phase in the four-year bloody civil war in the country.

The Liberian civil war, which lasted about 15 years and claimedat 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 hasforced some 300,000 Liberians to flee to neighboring countries andclaimed thousands more lives.

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