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Civilians massacred liberia Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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1,000 civilians reportedly massacred in Liberia
Hopes for peace fade
National Post news services
MONROVIA - Many hundreds of civilians were killed and villages torched in a massacre northeast of Monrovia, Liberian government officials said yesterday.
The Liberia Broadcasting System quoted a radio operator who had been in touch with the region as saying: "There were about 1,000 people killed in this massacre."
Security sources in Monrovia said they had reports of many people killed during fighting in the area.
''I have received a report from our security officers that many villages there had burned down and that there have been lots of massacres,'' said General Benjamin Yeaten, deputy head of the government army.
''My understanding is that there was a massacre but we are not exactly sure how many people have been killed, it could be a hundred, it could be a thousand,'' he added, without saying who the perpetrators were.
The reported massacre -- along with other fighting around the second city of Buchanan, and fighting in the northeast -- mark a return to conflict after a peace deal signed after the departure of pariah leader Charles Taylor this month.
The deal was meant to end nearly 14 years of violence in the West African country.
Washington has three warships sitting off Liberia, founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves. Only 200 of the 2,300 U.S. servicemen have gone ashore to help the West African peace force ECOMIL, but U.S. helicopters and warplanes have provided backing.
Yesterday, U.S. helicopters flew into areas around Buchanan to support peacekeepers as up to 10,000 people fled toward the capital.
Darlington Morris, 32, who was pushing his son, Junior, 8, on a bicycle away from Buchanan, said he had walked nearly 65 kilometres to escape fighting. "I saw government forces running away," he said.
Gen. Yeaten said the two main rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), had carried out attacks in the area of the reported massacre recently.
Citing a witness who had fled the assault at Bahn, 250 kilometres northeast of the capital, local public radio reported that MODEL rebels had stormed the town, opening fire on the local population before disappearing back into the surrounding forest.
''Our information is sketchy. We know there are fightings in the area, both LURD and MODEL. LURD is fighting in Bong county and MODEL fighting in Nnimba, so it's difficult to know who is who,'' said Reginald Goodridge, the Information Minister.
Yesterday, fighting broke out near Gbarnga, northwest of Monrovia. Daniel Chea, the Defence Minister, accused LURD of attacking government positions.
"I spoke to my commander there and he told me they are using mortars and artillery," he said. "They have signed the peace deal, so there is no justification whatsoever."
The government formerly led by Mr. Taylor, an indicted war criminal now in exile, accused rebels of attacking government positions around Buchanan. But peacekeepers said they suspected pro-government militiamen were shooting to panic civilians, a tactic used throughout the conflict by both sides to make looting easier.
A 150-strong U.S. Marine force returned to warships off Liberia yesterday, ending the United States's military deployment after 11 days. Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Collins, spokesman for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said the move reflected the "situation on the ground." Forces would wait on the ships to see if a new deployment was needed to support the West African peacekeeping force, he added.
Caretaker President Moses Blah has made a tour of battle-torn regions to cement last week's peace deal. He apologized for Liberia's role in fomenting civil war in neighbouring countries and asked for help securing peace under an interim government to which he will hand over power in mid-October.
© Copyright 2003 National Post
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