U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
                                    
                 BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
            OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
                                    
                       LIBERIA - Complex Emergency


 Fact Sheet #3                 April 15, 1996 1800 EDT


Background:  On April 6, 1996, fighting in Monrovia erupted
between two armed factions, Charles Taylor's National Patriotic
Front of Liberia (NPFL), and Roosevelt Johnson's wing of the
United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia
(ULIMO-Krahn).  Other Krahn factions subsequently joined Johnson. 
Confined so far to the capital, the fighting comes in the wake of
scattered skirmishes that followed the signing of the Abuja
Accord, a comprehensive peace agreement among leaders of the main
warring factions in Liberia on August 19, 1995.  The accord came
after nearly six years of civil war, in which more than 150,000
Liberians died, about 725,000 fled the country as refugees, and
800,000 became internally displaced.

In nine days of fighting, the NPFL and ULIMO-Krahn have
systematically looted and burned the city.  On April 15, the
looting spread to United Nations (UN) and nongovernmental
organization (NGO) food warehouses on Bushrod Island.  Many
residents have fled the city.  All UN agencies, international
organizations (IO), and NGO compounds have been looted.  There
are no reliable estimates of casualties.  U.S. military
helicopters evacuated almost 2,000 Americans and foreigners since
April 10.  The remaining expatriates sheltered at the U.S.
Embassy are scheduled to be evacuated tonight, and another 50
Americans are believed to remain elsewhere in Monrovia,
the embassy reported.

Current Humanitarian Situation:  With most humanitarian
operations having ceased in Monrovia, conditions
have worsened.  The fighting has displaced at least 100,000
people.  Comprehensive assessments of needs are impossible at
present, given the collapse of order throughout the city.  On
Monday, U.S. Embassy officials delivered food to John F. Kennedy
and St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital, and to the Liberian Ministry
of Health Displaced Persons Camp.

Continued looting could imperil the primary source of food
supplies, which are in World Food Program (WFP) and Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) warehouses in the port area of Monrovia. 
WFP warehouses now contain 23,100 metric tons (MT) of food
commodities, and CRS has 6,350 MT in its warehouse.  World Vision
Relief and Development (WVRD) reports that two programs outside
the capital could not administer food for lack of supplies, which
in normal circumstances are transported from Monrovia.  WVRD's
health and agricultural programs at Zwedru and Tappita are
continuing, however.

Another concern is poor sanitation at the Greystone compound of
the U.S. Embassy, where 7,000 -10,000 civilians have taken
refuge.  Liberian Red Cross workers have begun digging latrines
at the compound.  Some water is available, and an armed convoy on
April 13 delivered food to sustain the compound for two weeks.
Distribution of the food proceeded calmly.  Approximately 45,000
civilians and members of the Armed Forces of Liberia, an armed
faction, are in the Barclay training center. The presence of the
armed fighters in the compound renders illegal the delivery of
FFP Title II food commodities.  At the U.S. Embassy, water
supplies are running low.

NGOs:  NGO relief activities in Monrovia are currently very
limited.  NGO expatriate staff who remain in the U.S. Embassy
compound will be evacuated. 

U.S. Government (USG) Humanitarian Assistance FY 1996:  
Total OFDA Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,729,948
Total FFP Assistance: 116,260 MT valued at . . . . . .$61,281,400