Thousands flee toward Liberia's capital, escaping artillery

COTTON TREE, Liberia -- Thousands of panicked civilians toting hastily gathered possessions streamed toward Liberia's capital Saturday, fleeing artillery explosions that West African peacekeepers said came from government militias.

Even as calm spreads in Monrovia, fighting and banditry has continued in the countryside despite a peace deal between the government and rebels. Many in the exodus on the road from Buchanan, a southern rebel-held port city, pleaded for peacekeepers to leave bases in the capital, Monrovia, and deploy throughout the country's interior.

Families hurried with bundled sleeping mats and cooking pots on their heads after fleeing from the town of Compound One, between Buchanan and Monrovia, and about 100 miles from the capital.

"Heavy artillery. Bang, bang, boom!" said Joseph Boyeah, a teacher. "They started, so we packed our load and left."

Nathan Marshall, on the road with 19 relatives, was fleeing fighting for the third time since June.

"Old people are dropping, children are getting lost," Marshall said. "We thought the war was over -- we don't know why this is happening."

Peacekeepers still are struggling to build to a 3,250-strong force and are just beginning to make initial fact-finding forays beyond Monrovia.

"There's gunfire all night," said the Rev. Samuel Lloyd, a 30-year-old pastor among the fleeing. "I don't know why (the peacekeepers) couldn't come this way."

A short time later, refugees welcomed the sight of a small contingent of peacekeepers barreling past them in trucks and armored personnel carriers, bound for the scene of the reported clashes.

Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea told The Associated Press that government forces were attacked by rebels there.

However, Col. Theophilus Tawiah of Ghana, chief of staff of the West African peacekeepers, blamed government forces and said rebels were holding to their cease-fire position, near Buchanan.

Guns were quiet in the area on Saturday, Tawiah said, adding he believed government militia likely fired in the air to chase people from their homes.

Government forces repeatedly have been accused of staging attacks on towns to scare off residents and then looting homes and businesses.

The government side also includes numbers of irregular militias, loyal to their own warlords and vying with each other for spoils.

Tawiah said peacekeepers are trying to contact the various factions operating in Liberia's bush before peacekeepers move in force to the interior. But he said that "will take some time."

Pickup trucks full of young government fighters also rushed toward the area Saturday. Militia members clutched AK-47s and rocket-launchers, their legs hanging over the sides of the trucks.

Fleeing refugees said government forces were demanding money to let each family pass. The numbers of refugees eventually appeared to overwhelm the government troops at bridges on the route, however.