Liberia fighting starts again

2004-03-12 18:04

Monrovia - Liberian rebels and former soldiers from the armed forces of ex-president Charles Taylor were fighting in the northeast of the country near the border with Ivory Coast, media reports said on Friday.

According to the reports, "sounds of sporadic shooting could be heard across the area causing panic-stricken residents and internally displaced persons to flee to safety."

The clashes broke out in the town of Tappita, in Nimba County, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers there.

The defence ministry and the UN Mission in Liberia (Unmil) confirmed the fighting, but described it as "a skirmish."

Defence ministry official Josephus Pajebo said the government and Unmil would shortly dispatch teams to the area to investigate the "root cause" of the fighting.

A team of legislators from Nimba County was due to leave the Atlantic coastal capital, Monrovia, on Friday for the northeastern region to try to help bring the fighting to an end and promote peace and reconciliation in the area.

The 15-man delegation will also investigate allegations by deputy Internal Affairs Minister Jerry Gonyon that military training is going on in Nimba County with a view to destabilising neighbouring Guinea and restarting the war in Liberia.

- SAPA