The bodies of people killed in recent fighting littered the streets of Monrovia’s western suburbs on Sunday night as heavy fighting resumed between forces loyal to President Charles Taylor and rebels trying to punch their way into the capital. An IRIN correspondent counted 113 dead bodies lying in the main avenue that leads north from Monrovia Freeport towards the western outskirts of the city where the crackle of automatic rifle fire and the thump of mortars resumed on Sunday evening after a lull in fighting earlier in the day. The government said on Sunday it had captured 80 fighters of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement as it retook some suburbs that had been briefly occupied by the rebels. Civilians returning to these areas reported that many homes had been systematically looted by Taylor’s troops. Many residents of the capital also complained that government soldiers and militiamen had taken their cars and mobile phones. Military commanders told IRIN on Sunday night as the battle for Monrovia recommenced that LURD fighters who had been pushed out of the suburbs of Duala, Caldwell and Twelve Farm were fighting to regain lost ground. Full Story
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