The first West African forces arrived in Liberia on Monday, launching an international mission to end 14 years of carnage and oversee departure of warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor. Nigerian soldiers in green camouflage and flak vests leapt out of the first U.N. helicopter as it settled onto the tarmac at Liberia's main airport, outside the country's besieged capital. Machine guns at the ready, they crouched, taking up defensive positions on the landing strip. In Monrovia, residents near the city's embattled port heard cheers and watched flares go up over the war-ruined city - rebels, celebrating arrival of the West African troops. Authorities said a total of 192 men and 33,000 pounds of equipment would deploy Monday. The men are the first wave of a promised 3,250-strong West African deployment, to be followed within months by a U.N. peacekeeping force.