At least 70,000 fled Gbarnga fighting

At least 70,000 internally displaced people and their host communities in the Liberian town of Gbarnga, 224 km north of the capital, Monrovia, fled fighting between government troops and armed opposition fighters last week, an inter-agency assessment mission reported on Thursday.

The fact-finding mission, composed of UN agencies, international NGOs, and Liberian officials visited the area to gather information on the fleeing population and to assess immediate humanitarian needs. The mission visited camps for the displaced at Phebe, 12 km before Gbarnga, Kakata 48 km and Totota 50 km north of Monrovia, respectively.

Most of the population, however could not be located due to the unstable security situation in the area. The offices of Concern, Lutheran World Federation, Save the Children, Oxfam, International Committee of Red Cross and some local NGOs at Phebe had been looted, the mission reported.

“Information gathered indicates that the population fled in three directions. Most of the displaced in former camps around Phebe fled to Bondoi (10 km south) and Totota, further south. A significant number including those displaced from Gbarnga fled eastwards towards Ganta, reaching Sanakole and Lokatuwa in Nimba County, close the Guinean border. Others fled southeast,” the mission said. Some 16,754 displaced people had been registered at Ganta.

At Bondoi temporary camp, most of the population were women and children. There were no aid agencies assisting them. At Totota, overcrowding was observed and some NGOs were assisting. In Kakata, the last food distribution had been done three weeks earlier.

Meanwhile a humanitarian source in Monrovia said Gbarnga, which the armed opposition fighters of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) claimed to have taken last week, had been regained by government troops.

The source also said a government check-point at “Iron Gate”, 5 km from Monrovia on the main road to Sierra Leone had been re-opened for humanitarian workers. It had been closed after fighting was reported in the towns of Klay and Arthington, 35 km and 25 km respectively from Monrovia, were in government hands.

The LURD who according to the government started fighting in 1999, have recently intensified their war against President Charles Taylor. Last week they said their fighters were moving onto Monrovia. But sources in Monrovia said government troops were reported to have beaten back the LURD from Klay and Arthington.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, deeply disturbed by the human suffering in the Liberian war, condemned on Wednesday the LURD for attempting to take power by force, a statement issued in New York reported.