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

 Fact Sheet # 6                     April 18, 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. 
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 twelve days of fighting, the NPFL and ULIMO-Krahn have looted
and burned the city.  All United Nations (U.N.) agencies,
international organizations (IO), and non-governmental
organizations (NGO) compounds have been looted.  There are no
reliable estimates of casualties.   Factional warfare has spread
upcountry, including Bong Mines and Greenville.  U.S. military
helicopters have evacuated over 2,000 Americans and foreigners
since April 10.

Current Humanitarian Situation:  The fighting has displaced at
least 100,000 people, of which 7,000 - 10,000 have taken refuge
in the Greystone Compound of the the U.S. Embassy.  The U.S.
Embassy and the World Food Program (WFP) delivered a total of
approximately 165 metric tons (MT) of food between April 10 and
April 17 to the Greystone Compound and to other sites in
Monrovia.  Food distribution is endangered by continued
looting and insecurity.  The most serious concerns identified by
the U.S. Embassy include lack of potable water sources,  lack of
medicines and poor sanitation at the Greystone compound.   Five
deaths have been attributed to diarrheal diseases at the
compound.

Some 2,000 new refugees have been reported arriving in C"te
d'Ivoire, a result of skirmishes east of Gbarnga between the NPFL
and the Liberian Peace Council (LPC), another warring faction.

USAID/BHR/OFDA's two person Disaster Assistance Response Team 
(DART) arrived in Monrovia today.  Tomorrow it will assess the
humanitarian situation within the Greystone compound, and
security permitting, other areas where the displaced have
gathered.  The team members are experts in public health,
sanitation, and logistics.  The United Nations Humanitarian
Assistance Coordination Office in Liberia (UNHACO) conducted a
limited assessment mission on April 16 to begin to locate and
register internally displaced persons and vulnerable groups in
Monrovia.

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
currently contain approximately  23,000 MT of food commodities,
and CRS has 6,350 MT in its warehouse.  CRS agreed that WFP may
draw down on its food stocks if necessary.  The port is at
present secured by troops from the Economic Community of West
African States' Military Observer Group (ECOMOG).

In the Barclay Training Center (BTC) in Monrovia, there are
approximately 15,000 - 20,000 civilians, armed members of
ULIMO-Krahn, and the Armed Forces of Liberia, a contending
faction.   Lebanese civilians and ECOMOG personnel are reportedly
held hostage by fighters.  All are besieged by NPFL fighters. 
The presence of the armed fighters in the BTC renders illegal the
delivery of FFP Title II food commodities.  Reportedly,
approximately 150 deaths in BTC have been attributed to diarrheal
diseases.

U.S. Government (USG) FY 1996 Humanitarian Assistance:  
Total OFDA Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,729,948
Other USG Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$61,347,425

TOTAL  USG FY 1996 Humanitarian Assistance  (to date).$65,077,37