Dozens die as bombs hit capital
A helicopter dropped off Marines to secure the American Embassy.
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Heavy fighting engulfed the Liberian capital today, killing at least 60 people as mortars barraged the city in an all-out battle between rebels and forces of President Charles Taylor.
A shell hit a house in one neighborhood, killing 18 people inside, emergency workers at the scene said. An additional 27 Liberians were killed in other attacks today, hospital officials said.
Shells also hit in and around the heavily fortified, two-story, hillside U.S. Embassy compound. One shell hit a diplomatic residential compound across the street, where 10,000 Liberian refugees had sought shelter in tents.
An angry crowd dragged bodies out of the compound into the street in front of the U.S. complex. At least five bodies were seen, and more were being brought out. Two Liberian guards working for the American Embassy also were wounded.
One shell hit the commissary building inside the main U.S. Embassy compound, but no one was injured. An American journalist was wounded in Monrovia's port area, the scene of fierce fighting for several days.
Marines arrive
Helicopters swooped in bringing U.S. Marines to secure the American Embassy, as thousands of Liberians stood outside the compound asking when troops would come to protect them.
The aircraft dropped off Marines wearing green camouflage, body armor and helmets and took off carrying between 25 and 30 foreign aid workers and some foreign journalists.
Clutching bags and backpacks, they ran up the hill of the embassy compound through the pouring rain, as Marines and embassy officials yelled, "Go, Go."
They were to fly to neighboring Freetown, Sierra Leone.
One of those being evacuated, aid worker Eleanor Moonlit of World Vision, said that since Friday her organization had to stop food distribution because workers were hunkered in a compound. Tens thousands of people have flocked to the city, desperate to escape the mortar and gunfire.
Some 4,500 more American sailors and Marines have been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia to be ready for possible duty there, officials said today.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed a deployment order over the weekend sending a three-ship amphibious ready group from its position off the Horn of Africa into the Mediterranean Sea, defense officials said. That would put the group in a position to get to the west coast of Africa faster.
What's being done
With the weekend deployment order, it would take the amphibious group several days to get into the Mediterranean, where it would await further orders, Pentagon officials said. From there, it would take seven to 10 days to get to Liberia, if ordered to do so, officials said.
There are 2,000 Marines and 2,500 sailors in the group, led by the USS Iwo Jima, which has been in the Horn of Africa region as part of the global war on terrorism.
Some 200 Americans already have been sent to Liberia and nearby countries since African nations and the United Nations asked for U.S. help.
On a request from the U.S. Ambassador John W. Blaney, 41 Marines were sent Sunday to Monrovia to reinforce security at the American Embassy in the war-shattered capital.
There are 32 other Americans in Liberia from two teams sent to assess the humanitarian needs and the military situation. President Bush has said their report will help him decide how to respond to calls for Americans to lead a peacekeeping force made up partly of African troops.
The report was submitted to officials late last week, but its details have not been publicly disclosed.
There also are 100 Americans in neighboring countries standing by with aircraft as transportation or for possible evacuation of the assessment teams.
The Bush administration doesn't want to send peacekeepers until Taylor steps down. Liberians, Taylor and leaders from a number of countries have called for the United States to send some 2,000 troops to lead the force in Liberia, founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves.
No place to go
Aid groups say virtually the whole population has been displaced by fighting at one time or another. Monrovia's population, already swollen to about 1 million by the end of the 1989-96 war, has increased steadily since the resumption of hostilities in 1999.
"Where can we go from here now?" asked Paul Digen, a teacher from northern Liberia forced to flee 10 times during two civil wars. "Nowhere, unless peace comes."
When rebels fighting to oust Taylor punched into the city Saturday, tens of thousands of people from outlying neighborhoods fled downtown, piling into the few spaces that remained -- mostly churches, schools and the stadium.
Many sleep on the rain-soaked ground. Food is scarce, sanitation is poor and disease is rife -- problems aid workers say they can do little about until security is restored.
Some 350 cholera cases are diagnosed a week. Malnutrition is also spreading as families already short on food take on more mouths to feed. More than 20 emaciated babies arrive daily to feeding centers, aid workers say.
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