Peacekeepers Push Rebels Back in Liberia
Rebels retreated Saturday under a bombardment of shells, rockets and mortars fired by a West African peacekeeping force. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes because of the fighting near the capital.
Dozens of civilians caught in the cross-fire were injured, and an unknown number were killed, doctors said. The chief of staff of the West African army, Brig. Victor Malu of Nigeria, said rebels suffered heavy casualties but refused to discuss his own losses.
Relief workers said power was cut in some parts of the city, which has been without water and international communications for a week.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources said the rebels were holding four U.N. employees--three Liberians and a Dutch staffer--hostage at rebel headquarters in Gbargna.
Seven West African nations sent 7,000 troops to Monrovia in August, 1990, to halt a civil war that had killed 15,000 people. The force imposed a cease-fire that November.
But rebel leader Charles Taylor refused to disarm, and fighting broke out again Oct. 15.
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