LIBERIA: MONROVIA: NEW ATTACK TARGETS REFUGEE BARRACKS

(16 Apr 1996) English/Nat

Forces loyal to Liberian militia leader Charles Taylor launched a new attack in Monrovia Tuesday, targetting a barracks holding 10-thousand people.

It sent refugees fleeing from what they thought was a safe area.

Fighters inside the barracks, who are loyal to rival warlord Roosevelt Johnson, fired back, but there was no word on casualties.

APTV has dramatic, close-up pictures of the chaos and violence in the Liberian capital.

An APTV camera crew out and about in Monrovia with the National Patriotic Front of Liberia --one of the armed militias roaming the capital.

These N-P-F-L militiamen are loyal to warlord Charles Taylor.

He is a government leader and a member of the anarchic country's six-man ruling Council of State.

Only 200 metres (yards) from the U-S embassy, the Mamba Point Hotel was surrounded by N-P-F-L members.

These men were exchanging fire with rival A-F-L fighters, loyal to the Ulimo-J faction which supports the guerrilla leader, Roosevelt Johnson.

Scenes like these, where young men run round with rifles killing other young men, is what now passes for normality in the Liberian capital since the outbreak of fighting nine days ago.

The trouble started when the government issued a warrant for Johnson's arrest on murder charges.

Taylor has refused to negotiate with Johnson over releasing peacekeepers and Lebanese hostages the guerrilla leader is holding at his downtown barracks.

Taylor has called on Johnson to surrender at the U-S embassy or the United Nations.

And a weekend ceasefire was shattered on Monday afternoon by an intense firefight between Taylor's supporters in the N-P-F-L and Johnson's followers.

An N-P-F-L fighter said he was just trying to defend his area.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Something happening? They were opening fire on us."
(Q: Who? Who are they firing at?)
"A-F-L"
(Q: Why?)
"We don't know. We don't know why."
(Q: What happens now? Will you chase them away?)
"We are defending our area - we are not moving away. Do you hear how it goes on?"
(Q: Have they retreated?)
"Yes."

SUPER CAPTION: Captain Ibrahim Amayos, NPFL

Caught in the crossfire, some residents have formed their own vigilante groups, carrying machetes and standing guard over their property.

In Mamba Point, the looting that has forced aid organisations to leave the country has continued, with Taylor's forces joining in, according to witnesses.

All of the shops and office building in the seaside capital have been looted and most of them destroyed since government troops and rebels began the current round of fighting.

There have been reports that fighters loyal to Johnson were gathering southeast of the capital.

A U-N source, said fighters from the Krahn ethnic group may also be headed toward the capital.

But while the fighting continues, others are trying to salvage the remnants of their lives.

More than 60-thousand Monrovians have been left homeless by the violence, and this is exacerbated by the fact that most international agencies have pulled out.

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