The number of female applicants was extremely high, with more than 7,000 turning up on Monday at a military barrack in the capital, Monrovia, for pre-recruitment physical training.

Army chief Gen Prince C. Johnson told the BBC that fitness training was being organised for women from the Monrovia area because research showed they were less fit than women from rural areas.

Rural women on the other hand, he said, did not do so well when it came to meeting the academic requirements for recruitment, and needed help in that area, he said.

An applicant must be at least a high school graduate or possess some vocational training to qualify for enlistment.

Besides their desire to serve in the army, many women see this an opportunity to overcome high levels of unemployment.

Liberia is still recovering from a civil war which ended almost 20 years ago.

Around 250,000 people were killed in the conflict.