Thousands flee towards Monrovia

Some of the thousands of desperate people fleeing recent fighting in Klay Junction, a crossroads some 47 km north of the capital Monrovia, have started arriving in former camps for the displaced near Liberia's capital, the head of the Liberian refugee agency, Samuel Brown, told IRIN on Monday. "They are moving mostly because of fear," he said. Brown, the executive director of the Liberian Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission, said many of the internally displaced persons were returning to camps in Zuana Town, Finje, Jah Tondo Town and the Ricks Institute, which had been temporary homes for people displaced by earlier emergencies. He said many others were still in the forests but would likely make their way to the relative safety of Monrovia. The new arrivals are being registered and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is providing emergency aid, he said. Residents of Klay and surrounding villages fled when anti-government dissidents of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy movement attacked the crossroads on Thursday when food aid was distributed, Brown said. "They burnt cars, took away relief food aid," he said. There are also 20,000 IDPs heading for Bong Country, he added, having fled earlier attacks at Sawmill, two weeks ago. They will join another 35,000 IDPs already in Bong. "The situation is very bad," he said.