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UN peacekeepers in Liberia set to expand into rebel strongholds

26 December – The United Nations peacekeeping force in Liberia will deploy troops to three rebel strongholds in the next few days and should have most of the country covered by the end of January, the Force Commander said today.

General Daniel Opande told the UN News Service he hoped the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) would be able to establish permanent garrisons by the end of this month in Gbarnga, stronghold of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) 140 kilometres northeast of Monrovia, the capital, and Buchanan, a port city controlled by the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) 120 kilometres to the southeast.

It plans to station forces in LURD-controlled Tubmanburg, 50 kilometres northwest of Monrovia, within the next few days, Gen. Opande said. Within a month UNMIL should have forces stationed in every main town in Liberia where there had recently been tension or fighting.

"We have the resolve, energy and determination to begin stretching out and this is why we are beginning to deploy in LURD, MODEL and former government-controlled areas," the Kenyan general said of the force launched on 1 October to bring stability and democracy to the West African country, which has been torn asunder by nearly 15 years of civil war, brutality, rape, looting and corruption.

"We don't underestimate the severe challenges that will be put on us by the warring factions, but we will do what we need to do," he added.

About 2,000 extra UN troops have arrived in Liberia over the past two weeks, bringing the force strength up to more than 7,080 out of an authorized level of 15,000. More are on their way from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, according to the Force Commander. Until now the mission has lacked sufficient numbers to deploy much beyond Monrovia and its immediate surroundings.

On 7 December, UNMIL began a programme to disarm and demobilize all three armed factions but was forced to suspend it 10 days later. The exercise is due to resume on 20 January, by which time many more peacekeepers should have arrived and two new demobilization camps will have been established specifically for LURD and MODEL fighters. LURD presently controls Liberia's western frontier with Sierra Leone while MODEL controls the eastern frontier with Côte d'Ivoire.