Fresh fighting has broken out between government forces and Liberia's smaller rebel group in the north of the West African nation.
"This fighting has led to the burning of towns and homes in areas like Gray, Zuatuo and other towns," an official said today. "This is very serious and we have informed the United Nations about this incident."
The official said the fighting involved government forces and rebels of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia. No deaths have been reported so far.
The reports are a blow to a fledgling peace process aimed at drawing a line under 14 years of war in a nation founded more than 150 years ago by freed American slaves.
It also highlights the challenges of bringing peace to the country's lawless interior, where armed fighters roam far from United Nations peacekeepers deployed in the coastal capital Monrovia.