Liberian rebels hijacked an Oxfam four-wheel-drive vehicle at gunpoint on Saturday in an area of Monrovia that is supposed to be under the control of Nigerian peacekeeping troops, Rosemary Kadura, Oxfam’s country programme manager said. The assault occurred in broad daylight on the main avenue leading from central Monrovia to the port, just a few hundred metres from a Nigerian checkpoint at the port gates, she told IRIN. Vehicles of the United Nations and non-governmental relief agencies use this stretch of highway constantly and assault helicopters from a US task force offshore frequently patrol overhead. Kadura said seven fighters of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement, riding in a white pick-up truck, blocked the path of the Oxfam vehicle. They then threatened the Oxfam driver and his passenger with automatic rifles and dragged them out of the vehicle. They then drove off the Oxfam Toyota Landcruiser into a slum at high speed, knocking down and seriously injuring a pedestrian on the way.
| Those bastards don't need peacekeepers. They need trainers... |
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