LURD rebels battled government troops with mortar fire, killing at least 70 people. During a two hour exchange, one shell killed 25 Liberians when it hit an American diplomatic compound where at least 10,000 refugees have taken refuge, across the street from the US Embassy complex. One shell hit the commissary building inside the main US Embassy compound, but no one was injured.
During the mortar bombardment, a shell hit a house in one neighborhood, killing 18 people inside. After the blast, enraged Liberians lined up their bodies in the street outside the embassy. An American journalist was wounded in Monrovia's port area, and another 27 Liberians were killed in other attacks.
LURD was attempting to encircle the city, in order to cut Monrovia's main highway to the international airport further east. The rebels had moved reinforcements from Bong county in northern Liberia towards Kakata, a government-held town 54 km north of Monrovia, on the main road that connects the capital to the interior. Government forces used pickup trucks to move from the city's center to meet the rebels, while other loyalists took up rooftop positions downtown. Some of them took advantage of the chaos to break into and loot closed shops in the city center.
A U.S. European Command in Germany also noted that 41 more Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) members were sent to help reinforce security at the U.S. embassy in Monrovia. The same helicopters took off with 25 to 30 foreign aid workers and foreign journalists. American officials announced that some 4,500 more American sailors and Marines had been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia to be ready for possible duty in the embattled West African nation.
ECOWAS and even the MODEL rebels called on LURD to stop their offensive, while Liberian army chief of staff General Benjamin Yeaten sounded like he'd been reading too many books about Stalingrad. He told Reuters that "Nobody retreats and nobody surrenders. This is a battle for survival, it may be the last battle for them. It may be the last battle for us." One can only hope so. - Adam Geibel
