Agencies withdraw vaccination campaign

Fresh fighting in Liberia has forced international agencies involved in polio vaccination in the western county of Gbarpolu, to withdraw to the provincial capital, Bopolu, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Thursday. "I can confirm that there has been fighting going on in the county this week," a source said. "WHO, the Lutheran World Federation, Save the Children Fund and World Vision had to pull out of the internally displaced people's (IDPs), camps where they were carrying out a polio vaccination campaign," he added. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on Thursday that fighting broke out in western Liberia when dissident forces attacked two towns and forced aid agencies to withdraw. Thousands of civilians have also fled. It reported civilians as saying there was heavy assault rifle and machine gun fire coming from the embattled zones. Defence authorities, it added, confirmed the outbreak of fighting in Belle Baloma and Belle Fassama towns within the county, but did not give details. "The soldiers tried to commandeer the Save the Children Fund vehicle I was driving to transport their men to the area to counter-attack," AFP quoted the organisation's driver as saying. According to BBC, the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) is suspected to be involved in this week's fighting. The group has been fighting in northern Liberia since 1998 for the overthrow of government. Since September, it has intensified its attacks, the radio added. It reported the government as saying that about 60,000 civilians have been displaced by the ongoing conflict over the years.