Refugees under shell fire as rebel armies enter Monrovia

SHELLS exploded in refugee-crowded neighbourhoods of Liberia’s capital yesterday, sending thousands of civilians fleeing as President Charles Taylor’s forces battled rebels pressing hard into Monrovia.

Fighting shattered a week-old truce and raised prospects of the deadliest possible end to Liberia’s three-year-old insurgency: an all-out battle among undisciplined armies for the city of one million, now packed with hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Battles on Tuesday night and yesterday appeared to mark the fiercest combat yet in the city. They were also the first time Taylor’s forces and rebels battled virtually through the night.