| | Wedged between Guinea and Sierra Leone and a day's drive from the capital Monrovia, Lofa County is one of Liberia's more remote regions. In recent history it has also been one of the more volatile. In the series of wars fought since Charles Taylor began his insurgency on Christmas Eve, 1989, Lofa has frequently been a primary battleground. In the fighting from 1998-2003 - referred to as 'World War Two' by some Lofa residents - death and destruction in Lofa was particularly severe. Reliable casualty figures are not available, but the evidence is everywhere: communities are populated by a small fraction of their pre-war population (some residents were killed and many are now refugees and internally displaced peoples (IDPs)), almost no permanent buildings remain intact and markets are devoid of the most basic goods, such as charcoal and bread. |
