Liberia's hungry capital prepared for more killing on its blood-spattered streets yesterday after rebels rejected a US call to pull out of Monrovia immediately so peacekeepers can come in.
Desperation is growing among more than one million people -- a third of the West African country's population -- packed into a city under raining mortars and zinging bullets, without food, clean water or a safe place to sleep.
Rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) have been battling inside the city for 10 days to oust President Charles Taylor, a former warlord who, under US pressure, has agreed to quit if peacekeepers come.
West African officials were to meet again yesterday to finalize plans to send in troops, but it would certainly make it more difficult if rebels keep hold of the port. They have said they will hand it over when foreign troops come, not before.
At least 14 people were killed as fighting shifted back and forth on Sunday, but by the end of another day of spilled blood and broken bodies the front line had changed little.
"People are just moving up and down shedding tears, mourning their families. The situation is not humanly comprehensible," said aid worker Patrick Broh from the West Point district, where nearly 100 have died in recent days.
The government says 1,000 civilians have been killed in the latest attack on a city battered by 14 years of violence.
Hunching down to sprint across road junctions, ducking the bullets, has become a way of life for people who have no choice but to move in an often futile hunt for food and clean water.
Most food stocks were at the port. The city's water supply has been cut off because of fighting near pumping stations.
"It's getting impossible to work. There's no fuel and you can't even buy rice now for the hospitals," said Magnus Wolfe-Murray of UK-based aid agency Merlin.
The US Embassy called on LURD to withdraw on Sunday, saying it was the only way to cut short the growing humanitarian disaster. But LURD leader Damate Conneh said he had rejected the proposal.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
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