Ebola sparks clashes in Liberia

A soldier swings a baton at a protester in Monrovia's West Point neighborhood. The Liberian army also used live rounds and fired tear gas at residents resisting quarantine orders on Wednesday. Protesters hurled stones at the security forces. Four people were injured in the clashes.

Police and army units cordoned off the slum neighborhood of West Point without any prior warning, residents said. The densely populated area has recently reported more and more Ebola cases. Violence erupted over the weekend, when an angry mob stormed an Ebola screening center and chased away patients.

Renewed clashes erupted when soldiers tried to help a government representative and her family to flee from the quarantine zone. As hundreds of people tried to block their way, security forces fired shots in the air and dispersed the crowd.

Residents who were trying to storm barricades and to escape from West Point were targeted as well. Liberia's Defense Ministry said that troops did not shoot directly at anyone during the clashes.

An eerie calm reigns on most streets in West Point. The neighborhood is home to more than 75,000 people, most of them lack access to clean water. This makes the township even more vulnerable to the Ebola virus.

Liberia's president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf also ordered Dolo Town, a neighborhood east of the capital Monrovia, to be sealed off. She has imposed a countrywide nighttime curfew and ordered movie theaters and nightclubs shut. In a televised speech Sirleaf said the blockades were meant to save lives.

Liberia has been hit hardest by the virus that has spread across West Africa recently. Almost 600 Liberians have been killed by the disease so far, more than in any other country. As of yet no cure has been found for the deadly disease that is transmitted by bodily fluids.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it may take several months before the outbreak is brought under control. WHO is counting on media campaigns to raise awareness on how to prevent the disease, as one way of stopping the virus. Walking along the seaside in Monrovia, this man is calling for God's help in the fight against Ebola.