The shelling, when it comes, is brutal. With the central streets of Liberia's capital packed with refugees from what has essentially turned into a siege of the city, the percussive blasts find many targets.
More than a month after Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General, called for multinational peacekeepers to be sent to Liberia, its terrified people are still waiting for help to arrive in the midst of carnage.
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An attack on a refugee camp yesterday left 19 dead and 59 wounded. "Our health centre became a trauma unit within 10 minutes," said Magnus Murray of Merlin, a British aid organisation. "The room was full of bleeding, wounded bodies."
There is no refuge, even for the dead. Aid workers are burying bodies on the Atlantic beaches.
Hundreds have been killed in the week-long assault by rebel fighters seeking to oust President Charles Taylor. With most food, fuel and supplies trapped behind rebel lines, the crisis seems set to worsen. For many, hope has been the first victim.
Despite attempts by John Blaney, the American ambassador - who wears a bullet-proof vest under his suit jacket - to broker a ceasefire, the attack has become the longest since 1996, when Mr Taylor waged war against rival warlords.
In the early hours of the assault, a rumour that west African peacekeepers had arrived sparked a spontaneous peace march. Thousands streamed towards the front lines, singing hymns and waving palm leaves. By the end of the week, when the United States announced that it would send troop ships off the coast to help the peacekeepers, most Liberians greeted the news with doubt and shrugged shoulders.
"If they come with money and logistical backup, well, we'll be grateful for them," said Duncan Charles, 37, fighting tears as he recalled the week's carnage. "But what we need to know is when will someone put this thing to an end."
The World Food Programme has 7,000 tons of food - on the other side of the front lines. Meanwhile, according to those living near the port, rebels have broken into warehouses to steal lorry-loads of goods.
Clean water is scarce after armed men looted fuel for the capital's main water pump, leaving taps to run dry. Because the streets are too dangerous for driving, water lorries are left in their compound. "At this time of year, you already have a peak in the cholera epidemic," said David Parker, the European Union's aid commissioner. "This could get really bad."
Despite the increasing anger towards Washington, Liberians still yearn for its troops. When President George W. Bush called for Mr Taylor's departure, shortly before the US leader's trip to Africa, Liberians saw it as a signal of American commitment and were shattered when help did not arrive.
Mr Taylor has been indicted by a UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone, and Washington has made his departure a precondition for the arrival of US troops.
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