Liberian government forces have beaten back dissidents who launched an attack on the border town of Douley in the central northern Nimba County, defense officials said late Thursday.
The chairman of the senate standing committee on defense, George Koukou, said citizens of the area organized in self-defense units assisted government forces to repel the invaders.
"While dissidents have the capacity to make war, Nimba County is not vulnerable as citizens there remain on the defensive," Koukou told journalists.
The attack was where the Guinean, Liberian and Ivory Coast borders converge about 270 kilometers (170 miles) northeast of Monrovia.
Koukou said normal business activities have now resumed in the district headquarters of Ganta.
At an emergency meeting in Monrovia on Thursday, the youth of Nimba County condemned what they called "the present wave of destruction being waged by diehard elements of death and anti-democratic forces".
President Charles Taylor's government has blamed Guinea for allegedly allowing Liberian dissidents to use its territory to launch what it said was their fourth attack on the country.
The government has also informed authorities in Ivory Coast about the latest attack.
Last month, the government announced it had cleared the northern provincial capital of Voinjama of dissidents who launched their third attack in the area located about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital.
There has been no word from Guinea about the latest attack, but Conakry has always denied Liberian government claims that it was behind the clashes.
The Economic Community of West African States on Monday deployed a specialist team in Liberia's northern border area to prepare for an international observer mission to check on armed incursions -- MONROVIA (AFP)
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