Liberia civil war claims 90 lives

A thundering barrage of mortars shook Liberia’s capital, hitting two US Embassy compounds and residential neighbourhoods and killing more than 90 people, as government and rebel forces fought over President Charles Taylor’s last stronghold.

Wailing with grief, Liberians lined up bloodied, mangled bodies outside the US Embassy, demanding to know why Washington had not sent troops to end more than a decade of strife in the country founded by freed American slaves.