Explosions rocked the area of the US embassy compound in Liberia's besieged capital Monrovia tonight, causing injuries among thousands of civilians who had crowded into the diplomatic quarter for protection.
Witnesses, fleeing as others streamed out carrying wounded, said it appeared at least one shell had landed within the compound.
An AP reporter and photographer at the scene felt the ground shake from the two explosions but could not tell whether they hit inside or outside the embassy complex. The blasts appeared to be mortar rounds.
Survivors ran past with wounded - wheeling one bleeding young man out in a wheelbarrow, and using a ragged shirt as a stretcher for another victim.
The embassy and sprawling residential complex nearby are on a rocky hillside overlooking the Atlantic coast. The European Union compound is next to the US embassy.
US authorities earlier in the day admitted tens of thousands of refugees to the compound as rebels shelled the city.
It marked the first time since 1996, during the height of Liberia's 1989-1996 civil war, that authorities had opened the compound as a refuge for Monrovia's people.
Witnesses said four people were trampled in the stampede to get in the US compound gates. The blasts sent the terrified throngs fleeing in the opposite direction.
Hundreds of civilians were wounded today as rebels pounded Monrovia with artillery shells.
Two rebel groups are fighting President Mr Charles Taylor's forces after he reneged on a pledge to give up power as part of a ceasefire deal for the war-torn West African nation.
The heavy fighting raised the prospect of a bloodbath as the ill-disciplined forces battle for control of the city of one million, now packed with hundreds of thousands of refugees.
"This blatant act of terror will be fought all the way," Mr Taylor declared in a radio address as the shells landed.
The Red Cross appealed on the radio for blood donors, but the mortars crashing into the city made it almost impossible for anyone to venture out.
The city's John F Kennedy hospital took in more than 200 wounded people today, and wailing civilians lay sprawled in the hallways.
AP