Resumption of fighting halts UNHCR

Resumption of fighting in Liberia on Monday halted attempts by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to travel to Sinje camps, 50 km northwest of the capital, Monrovia, to resume registration of Sierra Leonean refugees for voluntary repatriation, a UNHCR source told IRIN on Tuesday.

"The office [UNHCR] was informed about the resumption of fighting along the road to the camps. The staff on the way were ordered by government militia to return," the source said.

According to the source, the militia reported that fighting was taking place in the area between the forested rubber plantation area of Guthie and Gbah town. The towns are on the road between Klay junction and Sinje.

"UNHCR has therefore put the plan to repatriate by road on hold. The office will have to consider other options, namely, transportation by sea and by air," the source added.

Humanitarian sources contacted by IRIN in Monrovia on Tuesday confirmed the reports of fighting on this road. "Reports reaching us say there was fighting yesterday [Monday] morning in Gbah and the two people, including a local elder were killed," a source said.

"Such incidents do occur along this road as rebels who often come through the rubber plantation hit the villages many times to loot food supplies then run. This makes access to Sinje quite hard for humanitarian agencies," he added.

Sinje camps, which according to UNHCR hosts about 11,000 refugees and a similar number of internally displaced persons, had remained inaccessible for several weeks until Monday last week when aid agencies finally visited the camps.

A UNCHR team visited the camps on Friday.