Liberian government troops reportedly executed nine...

Liberian government troops reportedly executed nine men branded as dissidents in Gbarnga, 150 km from Monrovia the capital. According to reports, the men were tied and paraded through the deserted streets of Gbarnga before being shot dead before journalists on the orders of Commander Roland Duo of the Liberian Army.
Those killed were captured by the troops during a fierce gun battle with dissidents who over-ran the city on 10 May. Duo told journalists that the men were not prisoners of war but dissidents who were causing havoc among the people in the rural areas of the country.
After a week of fighting, government troops regained control of the city on May 15, capturing 100 dissidents and killing close to 200 others, Duo said. He said the execution was in accordance with a directive from Liberian President Charles Taylor who ordered in a nation-wide address that none of the invading forces should be allowed to leave Gbarnga.
The city was left in ruins after the fighting and looting. Most of the public buildings were set-ablaze by the fleeing dissidents of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, according to Duo.
Decomposed bodies, numbering about 200, could be seen along the streets, while about 100 persons said to be dissidents, were tied and going through interrogations by the troops.