Indeed, early this morning shooting erupted near the city's center, and an hourlong power cut plunged many parts of the city into darkness.

The men then entered the garage and shooting erupted, the witness said.

The shooting erupted as the Saadehs' car passed in front of the troops, and the assault carried on as the family began turning a corner.

Intense shooting and the boom of heavy weapons erupted in the capital, Lome, before dawn.

Two police detectives on their way into their office in the next building happened on the scene at the moment the shooting erupted.

The Fatah men refused to allow any searches, and the shooting soon erupted, he said.

He told about a night when he and several friends went to a club and shooting erupted.

Neither side had figured shooting would erupt any time soon.

He said the shooting erupted just after midnight when the Albanian fighters saw unknown figures on ridge outside the village and opened fire.

"The little kid died for nothing," said Edgar Hernandez, 15, who was playing basketball when the shootings erupted.