Death toll in Liberian capital rises to 600: "
The civilian death toll in Liberia's civil war soared to more than 600 yesterday, according to government officials, as fighting raged for a fifth day between rebels and government forces for control of the capital, Monrovia.
As mortars and machinegun-fire ripped through residential districts, panicked residents and aid workers appealed for foreign troops to intervene and re-establish peace. The United Nations refugee agency described the situation in the capital as 'horrific'.
West African ministers and security officers met yesterday in Senegal to discuss the deteriorating situation but failed to thrash out a regional solution to restore peace. The ministers are expected to renew their appeals to Washington to step in.
The heaviest gunfire rang out from the bridgeheads leading to the city centre - where the fighting has been concentrated since Friday - and on a road encircling the city, which is built on a chain of coastal islands.
The EU's aid coordinator, David Parker, said at least 200,000 displaced people were sheltering in Monrovia's football stadiums and ruined Masonic lodge. All lacked adequate food or clean water.
'The UN's warehouses are right in the fighting. If they've been looted, the city will run out of food next week,' Mr Parker said by phone from Monrovia, as sub-machinegun fire crackled nearby.
US diplomats in Monrovia yesterday removed 26 corpses from the embassy gates, where frantic civilians imploring America to intervene deposited them in protest on Monday."
- posted by geoff @ #