1.   As helicopter gunships prowled overhead, the soldiers, fearful of a second ambush, opened fire on anything that moved.

2.   It was the second such ambush in four months against troops in the region, which is considered an Islamic stronghold.

3.   No one claimed responsibility for the first attack, but guerrillas of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, or Party of God, said they staged the second ambush.

4.   There was no immediate comment from police after the second ambush.

5.   But new statements strongly suggest that there might have been a second ambush on a passing bus in the same place.

6.   It was the second ambush in three days.

7.   The incident is the second ambush on the Monrovia-Tubmanburg highway within a week.