Government says it killed 28 rebels

Liberia's Defence Minister Daniel Chea said government troops killed 28 fighters of the armed opposition it had been battling since last week, including a senior commander in their northern stronghold of Kolahun, news organisations reported on Thursday. "The deputy chief of staff of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) force, Randall Mulbah, and 27 [fighters] were killed in a fierce fight for Foya," Reuters reported Chea as saying in a statement. Two other senior LURD officers, he was reported as saying, had been seriously wounded while two troop carriers and one anti-aircraft gun were destroyed by government soldiers. The government Radio Liberia International (RLI) reported on Friday that the town of Kolahun which was partially occupied by the LURD fighters was currently under siege on three fronts. It reported Chea as saying that naval forces of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) were advancing from the Foya region, while the combined forces of marines and large platoon were "closing in rapidly on Kolahun". According to Chea, the objective of the latest siege was to "finally liberate Kolahun" Meanwhile, the government announced a search to determine the whereabouts of a senior military intelligence officer, Emmet Ross, who reportedly fell into an ambush while on a special mission in northern Lofa county, RLI said on Friday. Ross, also deputy minister for operations in the ministry of national security, was among a number of junior officers collecting military intelligence at the front in the Belle forest region. "His convoy came under a surprise ambush attack, and reports received from the Ministry of National Defence indicate that he, along with three of his junior officers, are currently missing in action," RLI said. It reported President Charles Taylor as expressing distress over the incident and that he had ordered a search led by Chea "to rescue Ross and his colleagues". Six months ago, Liberia's Youth and Sports Minister, Francis Massaquoi, who according to the government was on a "humanitarian mission" to deliver relief supplies, was killed in Lofa County. LURD dissidents have been fighting in the northern and northwestern parts of Liberia since 1998 for the overthrow of the Taylor government. Since September, it has intensified its activities in the area.