The crackle of bullets and crash of mortar bombs is echoing across Monrovia after the government rejected an offer by rebels to stop fighting and let peacekeepers deploy in the Liberian capital.
Mortar bombs hit the capital's eastern suburbs last night, giving no respite to residents of the city which has been under siege for 12 days by rebels bent on toppling President Charles Taylor.
Hundreds of people have been killed and water and food are running low in Monrovia where residents said they were bracing for another day of fighting today.
Residents also reported fighting in Buchanan, Liberia's second port. Although government forces advanced deep into the southern city overall control remains unclear there.
The government rejected the rebels' latest ceasefire offer - the fourth such truce since a June 17th peace accord that was supposed to stop fighting.
"How many times in one week can they call a ceasefire? We don't put any value in it," information minister Mr Reginald Goodridge told Reuters.
He said the rebels should withdraw back to positions they held when the first truce was agreed in June.
UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan has asked for the immediate deployment of a Nigerian force to Liberia, saying he was deeply concerned about the dramatic deterioration of the situation on the ground.
But West African leaders have yet to set a date for the deployment, which is being delayed by haggling over who should fund the mission.
An official from West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS said it was "very likely" that a reconnaissance mission would head to Liberia today to work out the logistics of a deployment.
He said the mission, which has been repeatedly postponed because of the ongoing fighting, would take at least two days, and no troops would be deployed before its conclusion.
The US has ordered three warships carrying troops to take up positions off Liberia's coast, but Washington is reluctant to put any combat troops on the ground and says its soldiers will simply help the deployment of West African troops.