Los Angeles Times, by Carolyn Cole

WAR UNDERFOOT: Bullet casings carpet a street in Monrovia, at the heart of the battlefield between government and rebel soldiers. Businesses closed for weeks as the battle raged. (Carolyn Cole)

FIRING BACK: A government soldier defends a bridge in central Monrovia where a standoff between rebel and government forces held the city under siege. (Carolyn Cole)

KEEPING LOW: Women run for cover on July 7th as the sound of heavy gunfire booms off of buildings and homes in downtown Monrovia where rebel and government soldiers fight for control. (Carolyn Cole)

FAR FROM HOME: Thousands of people displaced by fighting came to live in the former Masonic Temple in Monrovia. Founded partly by freed American slaves in the early 19th century, Liberia has long looked upon the U.S. as a kind of godfather. (Carolyn Cole)

NOWHERE TO GO: Tehneh Johnson has lived in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Monrovia for more than a year. She is no longer safe as rebel soldiers approach the Liberian capital. (Carolyn Cole)

HUNGER: Refugee children line up for a meager handout of rice, the only food they receive at the refugee camp where they are staying on the outskirts of Monrovia. (Carolyn Cole)

A CHANCE TO REST: A boy finds respite on a foam pad in the elemtary school at the Firestone Rubber Plantation, where refugees sought shelter from rural fighting. (Carolyn Cole)

FEW COMFORTS: Ester Burges, 6, Sarrah Barbar, 7, and Sabay Ndebe, 5, bathe from a bucket of cold water at the Hannah B. Williams center. the number of orphans in war-devastated Liberia now tops 10,000, officials say. (Carolyn Cole)

AMID THE TRHONG: Patirnel Boima stands in the center of a rain-drenched stadium field where more than 30,000 people have taken refuge. Rebels have been at war with President Charles Taylor, a former warlord, since 1989. (Carolyn Cole)

WATERY PATH: Unable to find food in government held areas, Liberians wade through swampland to buy food in rebel territory. (Carolyn Cole)

TIME TO LEAVE: Civilians, including aid workers, journalists and missionaries board a helicopter at the U.S. embassy in Monrovia in an effort to leave the war-torn country as the violence continues to escalate. (Carolyn Cole)

THREATENING STANCE: Fighters supporting President Charles Taylor course through Monrovia's central marketplace. (Carolyn Cole)

WAITING OUT THE STORM: Residents take cover during an artillery battle in the city center. (Carolyn Cole)

VOICES FOR THE DEAD: A crowd piles bodies outside the U.S. Embassy to emphasize their plea for American intervention. (Carolyn Cole)

TOO LATE: A soldier cries for his comrade who died in his arms after a frontline offensive on Aug. 2nd, as government soldiers fought to take back territory lost to rebel forces. (Carolyn Cole)

CAUGHT IN THE CONFLICT: Kinny Kanneh, age 9, was wounded when mortar rounds landed in a Monrovia refugee camp run by the American embassy. Refugees descended on the capital to avoid fighting, but the violence followed. (Carolyn Cole)

LEARNING THE WORSE: A woman finds that a relative is one of 66 war victims buried in a grave on the outskirts of Monrovia. (Carolyn Cole)

BEYOND HELP: As residents flee an area coming under fire, the previous day's casualties are left behind. (Carolyn Cole)

FINAL DUTY: Volunteer Solomon Johnson helps bury 66 bodies in a hurriedly dug mass grave, as peacekeepers' helicopters drone in the distance. (Carolyn Cole)