Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Liberia

Tension displaces thousands, five dead in rock fight

    ABIDJAN

    Persistent tension that followed clashes this week between government troops and armed opposition fighters in northern Liberia's Lofa County forced 3,446 people - including over 3,000 Sierra Leonean refugees - to move to Jenemana in Gbarpolu County, just south of Lofa, UNHCR said in a report on Friday. The displaced people were moving towards the capital, Monrovia, it added.

    Across the border in eastern Sierra Leone, brawls broke out suddenly on Thursday between opposition groups in Koidu Town, leading to the death of five civilians. The fights, in which the belligerents used rocks, also left 38 injured. They were sparked by disagreement over a date set by paramount chiefs to stop illegal diamond mining in the town. UNAMSIL later separated the fighters.

    Overall, UNHCR said 5,423 people in Sierra Leone have been relocated to their home areas in Kambia, north of the capital, Freetown. Some 5,171 travelled by land while 352 were returned by sea. Another 383 remain to be repatriated.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join