Fighting in the north

Four UN vehicles were seized on Wednesday in north-western Liberia, where fighting has been reported between government troops and armed dissidents, a humanitarian source told IRIN on Thursday.

The source said four vehicles belonging to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were "requisitioned by military types" in Lofa County but no one was harmed. Two of the vehicles were taken in Voinjama and two in Vahun, he said.

Radio Liberia International (RLI) reported on Wednesday that Liberian dissidents from Guinea had attacked and captured several towns in Lofa County and that the government had sent troop reinforcements there.

Liberian President Charles Taylor has declared a state of emergency in the affected area, news reports said.

The BBC reported on Thursday that a town and several villages in Lofa had been attacked and that hundreds of people had fled the area.

The humanitarian source said he was unable to confirm that towns had been taken. He said, however, that colleagues in Lofa contacted by radio had reported hearing gunfire in Voinjama on Wednesday but had described the situation in Vahun and nearby Kolahun as "almost normal".

RLI reported that Taylor has instructed Foreign Minister Monie Captan to "make appropriate representation" to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations, the United States and Guinea's government on the attack.