Over a dozen mortar shells fell midday on Monday near the US embassy in the war-wracked Liberian capital Monrovia, but landed in the sea nearby without damaging the compound.
It was not immediately clear whether the shells were launched by rebel forces attacking the capital or by soldiers loyal to President Charles Taylor.
Embassy personnel and journalists covering the arrival of US Special Forces, sent to bolster protection of the compound, took shelter in the basement of the main embassy building.
Less than an hour before the shelling began, a contingent of US troops flew onto the compound in helicopters from Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown.
But not all 41 men from the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team had arrived by the time the shells hit the waterfront compound, and their transfer appeared to be temporarily suspended. – Sapa-AFP