Police clash with Ebola protesters in Liberian capital Monrovia

Clashes have broken out between police and protesters against restrictions imposed to limit the spread of Ebola in the Liberian capital Monrovia.

 

Liberian authorities imposed a quarantine on the West Point neighbourhood of the city earlier this week in order to prevent the spread of the disease, but residents have retaliated by throwing stones at security forces.

 

They say the restriction is stopping them from working and preventing them from having access to food.

 

Alpha Barry, a resident of West Point who said he came from Guinea and has four children under age 13, told Al Jazeera: "I don't have any food and we're scared.”

 

In order to disperse the crowd of protesters, police fired live rounds and tear gas at them. At least four people are reported to have been injured.

 

Dessaline Allison, a spokesman for the army, said: "The soldiers applied the rules of engagement. They did not fire on peaceful citizens. There will be medical reports if (an injury) was from bullet wounds."

 

According to witnesses, the clashes broke out on Wednesday after police used tables, chairs and barbed wire to block roads to the neighbourhood.

 

Fears have been growing that the isolation of some of the country's worst affected areas could lead to a shortage of food and medical supplies. 

 

 

According to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the epidemic currently spreading through West Africa had resulted in 1,383 confirmed cases and 760 deaths as of 19 August.

 

The outbreak began in Guinea in February, and has since infected people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. 

 

The death doll is rising fastest in Liberia, but Sierra Leone has suffered the largest number of cases and deaths so far.