Thousands of people who fled ethnic clashes in the northern Liberian city of Ganta began returning home on Thursday. With her kitchen utensils strapped in an old mattress balanced on her head and a bucket in her hand, 45-year-old Kou Nongbein Saye, of the Mano ethnic group, said she had spent the night on the outskirts of the city. 

"We spent the night in the bush because it is better to be bitten by mosquitoes than to be butchered," she said, her three children in tow. "We were told Mandingo people armed with machetes and guns were about to attack us. Knowing what we went through during the war, I decided to take my children to the bush for safety." 

Ganta city authorities went through the forests during the night, urging people to return home. They guaranteed their security. About 10 000 people - mostly women, the elderly and children - fled Ganta on Wednesday, when Manos - men and women - attacked members of the rival Mandingo ethnic group with machetes, sticks and rocks. 

Four arrested for trying to torch mosque 
The attack was in response to rumours that Mandingos were planning an assault on the Manos to reoccupy property lost in the country's years of civil conflict. According to mayor Nohn Tehsohn-Nohn, four people were arrested after they tried to torch a mosque in Ganta. 

After talks with peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNmil) and local government leaders, Tehsohn-Nohn restrained the Mano youths. Tehsohn-Nohn said Wednesday: "It is our responsibility, not yours, to assure security for everybody living here. We will not allow anyone to take the law into their hands." 

Despite official security assurances, some Mandingos remained fearful. 
"I am very afraid and I am thinking of leaving to go back to Guinea while waiting for this problem to end once and for all," said Aminata Fofana, 35, whose husband was assaulted on Wednesday night. 

Manos, Mandingos took sides "They wanted to rape me. I had to go on my knees to beg them. I don't feel safe at all in this city," she said. Before Charles Taylor - later president - launched an armed rebellion in Nimba county in 1989, Mandingos and Manos lived together peacefully. 

The Manos joined Taylor to fight government troops under then president Samuel Doe. The Mandingos supported the state. Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) wrested control of Ganta in 1990 and the Mandingos were expelled from the city. Most crossed the border into Guinea. 

Many joined the Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd), an insurgent group that sought to oust Taylor's government. Though peace generally prevails across Liberia, most Mandingos cannot return to their homes because they are occupied by Taylor's loyalist ex-fighters.