Wounded soldiers threaten to rampage

Wounded government soldiers have threatened to riot again if the government fails to care for their welfare, PANA reported citing local news reports. The soldiers - wounded in battles in Lofa County against Liberian dissident forces - are demanding regular food, clothing and medication at the government hospital in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, about 75 km north of Monrovia. Since the war began in 1999 against the dissidents in northern Liberia, wounded soldiers have had to resort to violence to draw attention to their plight. Recently, PANA reported, they caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to businesses in Tubmanburg. “Since we came [from the battlefront], we have not even changed our clothes, we are begging the president to come to our aid,” one soldier was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Assistant Defence Minister for Public Affairs Philibert Browne said his ministry “could do nothing” about the wounded because that was the responsibility of a presidential committee set up for that purpose, PANA reported.