"You know what we were going through before the attack on Monrovia, and should therefore know that things are now tougher than ever before," said Jartu Giddings, who works with a local non-governmental organisation.

The lingering conflict has displaced thousands of Liberians since it started in 1999, and both rebel and government forces are accused of widespread rights abuses including murder, torture, rape and using child fighters.

The conflict is part of almost uninterrupted civil war since the early 1990s that has left an estimated 200,000 people dead in the west African country.

Hundreds of thousands are now believed to be living rough in Monrovia, which was besieged by rebels early this month until they pulled back to pave the way for a ceasefire which is yet to be signed.

There is an acute shortage of food, potable water, medicines and social services in the city, which has been swamped by tens of thousands fleeing fighting on the outskirts and beyond where the rebels are positioned.

Running water and electricity virtually do not exist. The roads are flooded by monsoon rains and the sewage system is literally a mess. Banks and most shops are closed.

Meanwhile, the war between rebels and embattled President Charles Taylor -- who is accused by international rights groups of using the country's coffers as his private bank and by a UN-backed court of war crimes -- has turned the nation into one of the world's poorest countries.

The UN's top refugee official,, Ruud Lubbers, who recently visited Liberia before the start of the lastest fighting around Monrovia, has cited staggering staggering statistics -- 80 percent of the population living in acute poverty, 85 percent unemployment, and 10 of the 15 percent lucky to have work not receiving their salaries regularly.

Life expectancy for men in Liberia, which has a population of about 3.3 million, is a mere 41 years and for women 42.

Monrovia resident Fayia Guinea Boy said pro-government militias were having a field day in the city, looting and pillaging homes and businesses.

"They are systematically looting houses at midnight even when the owners are there. You can't prevent them because they are armed," he said.

Boy said an officer from the Armed Force of Liberia (AFL) was leading a team of thieves in Monrovia's Logan Town quarter, who terrorised people after sundown.

"If you are men, they look into your anuses to ensure money is not hidden there," he said.

"They also search the private parts of women, they have not been deterred by the shoot-at-sight order of looters given by AFL Commander-in-Chief, President Charles Taylor," he added.

Prices, meanwhile, have spiralled and rice, the staple cereal, now costs 35 dollars for 50 kilograms against 20 dollars earlier.

Fuel is more than twice as expensive.

An aid worker said she was raped by government militiamen, mirroring a common complaint.

"The dirty boy slapped me when I tried to resist. After that he and his colleagues raped not only me and my sick daughter but also elderly women with whom we sought shelter at a church in Brewerville" on Monrovia's outskirts, she said.

A wholesaler in central Monrovia said the war had played havoc with business, adding that the war had caused the Liberian dollar to fall to 70 to the greenback against 65 before last week.

"My monthly sale now is equivalent to my weekly sale two years ago," he said, speaking at his shop in Randall Street, in Monrovia's central business district.

The rebels are equally guilty of looting and other abuses.

WAR.WIRE