An unidentified man rolls on the ground wailing after someone he knew died, in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, July 25, 2003. The bloodiest attack on Liberia's besieged capital in days killed at least 12 Liberian men, women and children. Later in the day, President Bush ordered an unspecified number of U.S. troops to be positioned off the war-torn nation's coast to assist West African peacekeeping forces.
Refugee children wait in line to receive a spoonful of rice at the Firestone rubber plant about 31 miles southeast of the Monrovia, Liberia, July 24, 2003. The plant, which is the second-largest in the world, has become a refuge for people fleeing the fighting in the capital.
A helicopter evacuates all but four members of a U.S. assessment team from the U.S. Embassy in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, July 23, 2003, as additional Marines who arrived to help secure the embassy collect their equipment. Four team members were remaining behind to provide additional information as needed.
Security forces ride past a demonstration by citizens protesting that they have no food to eat, outside the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, July 23, 2003.
Dead civilians killed during mortar attacks in the Liberian capital of Monrovia are laid outside the U.S. Embassy, July 21, 2003. The bodies were put out in protest of the lack of U.S. intervention in the war-torn West-African nation, which was founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves. The Bush administration doesn't want to send peacekeepers to Liberia until President Charles Taylor steps down.
An unidentified journalist ducks for cover in front of U.S. Marines who arrived by helicopter to protect the U.S. Embassy in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, July 21, 2003. Mortars slammed into the surrounding neighborhood as rebels locked in an all-out battle for the city with government forces. President Bush indicated he had not made up his mind on the size of a U.S. peacekeeping force.
U.S. Marines arrive by helicopter to protect the U.S. Embassy in the Liberian capital Monrovia, July 21, 2003. A shell hit the embassy's commissary building, but no one was hurt. Some 4,500 more American sailors and Marines have been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia amid renewed fighting.
Waiting to be evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, a group of unidentified foreign aid workers, including some from Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and the International Red Cross, huddle together to avoid mortar fire, July 21, 2003. Heavy fighting killed at least 60 people as mortars barraged the city in a battle between rebels and forces of President Charles Taylor.
Christian aid worker Viola Yoder, from Lott, Texas, picks up her suitcase as she prepares to board an evacuating helicopter from the U.S. Embassy in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, July 21, 2003. It is the second time she has been evacuated in two months. Others in the picture are unidentified.
A man holds up a homemade sign that reads "Today G Bush kill the Liberian people" near a pile of dead civilians who were killed by rocket attacks, July 21, 2003, outside the U.S. Embassy in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. At least 18 bodies were laid out to protest the lack of U.S. intervention in the war-torn West-African nation.
Carrying his possessions in a plastic bag on his head, a Liberian waits in line to enter the Graystone refugee camp inside the residential complex of the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, July 20, 2003. At least 10,000 people have taken refuge at the compound.
Liberians fleeing the sound of gunfire run to cross Newport street in Monrovia, July 19, 2003, as fighting reached the capital city itself.
A young boy looks back as government soldiers fire shots in the air to turn back a demonstration calling for peace in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, July 19, 2003. The crowd tried to advance to rebel positions "to make peace with the rebels."
The coffin of a man killed by a shell a few days earlier is brought to Palm Grove cemetery in Monrovia, Liberia, to be buried, July 19, 2003.
Government forces jump out of their vehicle at "Combat Camp" near Amadu, outside the Liberian capital of Monrovia, July 17, 2003. Government officials claimed the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) was making a push for the capital.
Government forces bristling with weapons speed through the "Irongate" checkpoint on their way to the frontline outside the Liberian capital, Monrovia, July 17, 2003.
Yongo Wali, 2, is held by her mother at a therapeutic feeding center for malnourished children run by the French aid agency "Action Contre La Faim" in the Liberian capital ,Monrovia, July 17, 2003. The center was set up in June to cope with the influx of malnourished children arriving in the city after fleeing the recent fighting.
Refugees squat next to the small space they have set up home underneath the front of the stands at the Samuel K. Doe stadium in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, July 16, 2003. The stadium has become home to over 30,000 refugees who have fled fighting in the war-torn West-African nation.
Liberian President Charles Taylor speaks at a religious rally organized by American evangelical preacher Dr. K. A. Paul, at the Samuel K. Doe stadium in Monrovia, July 16, 2003. Former Democratic U.S. Rep.Ronnie Shows, from Mississippi, looks on at the far left. The rally in the stadium resulted in the Red Cross being forced to halt distribution of food and blankets for the afternoon.
Konah MacGee, 26, whose uncle died in the attack, and others squat in the basement of a next-door building, as small arms fire and the prospect of further mortars continues in the street outside the Greater Refuge church in the Liberian capital Monrovia Saturday, July 26, 2003. The church was the scene of mortar attacks Saturday morning which killed three people.