Factions in the 1st Liberian Civil War

Overview; Charles Taylor and his “army” (the NPFL) invades Nimba county in Liberia. They quickly gain power. The Armed Forces of Liberia retaliate by using genocidal purges against the Gio and Mano tribes that supported the NPFL. Prince Johnson quickly splits from the NPFL and forms his own faction, the INPFL. This turns the war into a 3 way civil war. The INPFL captures Samuel Doe and executes him. Soon after Samuel Doe’s assassination, the INPFL disbands. The ULIMO faction (made out of Krahn refuges that supported Samuel Doe) soon invades Liberia to battle the NPFL. ULIMO soon splits into two rival factions (ULIMO-J and ULIMO-K) due to leadership disputes. The main factions sign a ceasefire agreement in 1995. The most violent fighting erupts in 1996 (which broke the ceasefire agreement of 1995) after ULIMO-K and the NPFL form an alliance against ULIMO-J. ULIMO-K and the NPFL attempted to arrest Roosevelt Johnson (leader of ULIMO-J) for murder during an inter-factional ULIMO-J clash (Youlo and Kryee, rival members of ULIMO-J tried to throw Johnson out of ULIMO-J leadership) The other Krahn factions like the LPC and the remnants of the AFL feel threatened by the NPFL-ULIMO-K collation, so they form a coalition of their own with ULIMO-J. The NPFL-ULIMO-K coalition arrives to arrest Roosevelt Johnson, but they are opposed by the Krahn coalition. The fighting “ended” in 1996 due to the Abuja Accords, and Charles Taylor is elected in the bizarre 1997 elections (Taylor’s slogan was “You killed my ma, you killed my pa, but I will still vote for you”).

Major Factions and Breakaway Factions of Major Factions

1.     A. National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL); The main faction of the 1st Liberian Civil War. Was created by Charles Taylor and it invaded Liberia in 1989. It broke off into the INPFL very early in the war. The NPFL often allies and then breaks off alliances with other factions in the war, hence the fact that some factions are listed as both rivals and allies like ULIMO-J and ULIMO-K.

Enemies; AFL, INPFL, LPC, ULIMO-K, ULIMO-J, BDF, NPFL-CRC (virtually all the factions in the war), LDF and ECOMOG.

Allies; ULIMO-K (later allied with ULIMO-K in a coalition “government” to battle ULIMO-J and its allies), RUF (latter split with the RUF and driven out of Sierra Leone), INPFL (in Operation Octopus), LDF, ULIMO-J

B. -Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL); Breakaway faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson. Tortured and executed Samuel Doe (later cannibalized him in some reports) while videotaping it. The Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia disbanded shortly after their greatest accomplishment in the war.

Enemies; AFL, NPFL, ULIMO

C. National Patriotic Front of Liberia-Central Revolutionary Council (NPFL-CRC); A minor breakaway faction of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia. The only thing that they did in the war was support some anti National Patriotic Front of Liberia coalitions and some minor skirmishes with the National Patriotic Front of Liberia

2.    United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO); ULIMO was formed in Sierra Leone by Krahn and Mandingo refuges to help fight the RUF and the NPFL. After fighting the RUF with the Sierra Leone Army, they invade Liberia to fight the NPFL. Unfortunately for ULIMO, it did not live up to its name, so due to leadership disputes and inter tribal rivalry, ULIMO splitted up into 2 rival factions. The Krahn faction was called ULIMO-J (led by Roosevelt Johnson), while the Mandingo faction was called ULIMO-K (led by Alhaji Kromah).

A. -United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Johnson (ULIMO-J); The Krahn faction of ULIMO lead by Roosevelt Johnson. One of the most interesting leading figures of ULIMO-J is the warlord Joshua Blahyi or better know as General Butt Naked. He would lead his troops into battle naked (or sometimes wedding dresses) like his nickname suggests.

Enemies; ULIMO-K, NPFL, ECOMOG, ULIMO0J (Youlo faction)

Allies; LPC,  AFL, and sometimes the NPFL. Any of the Krahn factions.

B. -United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Kromah (ULIMO-K); The Mandingo faction lead by Alhaji Kromah.

Enemies; LDF, ULIMO-J, NPFL, AFL, LPC

Allies; NPFL (during the 1996 Battle of Monrovia)

3. Liberian Peace Council (LPC); Another Krahn faction in the Liberian Civil War lead by George Boley. The LPC was virtually a proxy faction for the AFL against the NPFL. Despite its name, the LPC used atrocities as one of its tactics for waging war. Despite its small size (only 2,500 fighters), the LPC was a significant threat to the NPFL.

Enemies; NPFL and ULIMO-K

Allies; ULIMO-J and AFL

4. Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL); The government army (former government army in the later stages of the war). The main problem of the AFL is that it is made out of several different rival tribes, so AFL soldiers have been known to kill fellow AFL soldiers that are of a rival tribe. Another one of its main problems was its attempt to wage a genocidal campaign against the Gio tribes, thus alienating the civilian population (despite the fact that ALL the other factions were committing similar atrocities). Its role in the war evenly decreased, while the AFL was weakening.

Enemies; NPFL, INPFL, ULIMO-K

Allies; ULIMO-J, LPC, and ECOMOG

5. Lofa Defence Forces (LDF); The most significant of the localized militias. Mostly fought ULIMO-K. It was back by NPFL (but it has been known to fight the NPFL) in retaliation for ULIMO-K’s support of the anti NPFL militia known as Bong Defense Forces. The LDF was a very small force, its force only contained 400-750 fighters.

Enemies; ULIMO-K

Allies; NPFL

Foreign Factions;

Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG); The Nigerian lead “peacekeeping” force. One of the most technologically advanced and powerful factions in the war. ECOMOG tried to keep the peace in Liberia but attempting to forcibly pull the warring factions apart.

Enemies; ULIMO-J, INPFL, NPFL, ULIMO-K

Allies; INPFL and the AFL

Minor Factions; These factions have no major significance to the war, and they are extremely localized, thus only significant in the areas that they are based in. They will not be described in big detail due to the little information on them and their minor impact on the war.

Congo Defense Forces

Bong Defense Forces

Nimba Redemption Council of Liberia

National Patriotic Front of Liberia-Central Revolutionary Council (mentioned above due to it being a breakaway of a major faction (National Patriotic Front of Liberia))

Results of the war in Liberia

Charles Taylor wins the 1997 elections with the bizarre and disturbing slogan “You killed my mom, you killed my dad, but I will still vote for you” (it might have helped Taylor that he threatened to restart that war if he loses the elections). 1/17 of every Liberian citizen died in that war. The war lays the foundation for the 2nd Liberian Civil War, when the rebel groups Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) (both groups are made up of the NPFL’s former enemies such as both of the ULIMO factions) invaded Liberia and toppled Taylor.

Waring, the section below is graphic. Don't read it if you are quite sensitive.

Atrocities committed by the main local factions (this section will be repetitive due to all factions committed (ie. cannibalism, rape, use of child soldiers, mutilation etc.) similar atrocities to each over)

United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Kromah (ULIMO-K);

The ULIMO-K have been reported to have checkpoints with human intestines as ropes that block the road. ULIMO-K fighters have been reported to have eaten the hearts of their victims to give themselves strength. One case is of cannibalistic practice that ULIMO-K rebels cut out the hearts and genitals of 5 young boys and ate them. The ULIMO-K have been reported to have kidnapped the uncle of the LDF’s leader Francis Massaquoi and consumed parts of his corpse. ULIMO-K fighters often bury their victims alive (mostly in the Lofa areas).

United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-Johnson (ULIMO-J);

One particularly disturbing case of a ULMO-J atrocity is that fighters under ULIMO-J ordered a brother to have sex with his sister, but the brother refused. So the fighters beheaded him. Another horrific case is that ULIMO-J fighters (especially committed by Joshua Bloyhi’s (or “General Butt Naked”) fighters) have been known to rape women that had sexual relations with NPFL fighters. They also have been known to practice cannibalism (like all factions), most famously, when they (along with their “ally”, the LPC) consumed the corpse of ULIMO-K’s General Dumboyah. ULIMO-J rebels also have practiced cannibalism human sacrifice (especially General Butt Naked’s rebels). They will abducted a child, cut the child’s back open, and drink the child’s blood. ULIMO-J will commonly, like all factions in the war, will use child soldiers as young as ten. I have personally seen photos of ULIMO-J fighters standing on the decapitated heads of NPFL rebels that they have taken prisoner and the victim has been presumably tortured and executed. They have been known to have participated in extortion, and in one case, ULIMO-J fighters beat a businessman with rifle-butts and rocks (because he wouldn’t give them money), and they eventually tore him to bits. Another case of ULIMO-J atrocities is that a couple of fighters from ULIMO-J held a family at gunpoint and they stabbed the mother in the back and cut off her breasts. Similar to the NPFL and the RUF, ULIMO-J (mostly under Butt Naked troops like most of the atrocities mentioned here) soldiers sometimes cut open pregnant women and place bets on the gender of the unborn child. ULIMO-J fighters also used civilians as Human Shields when fighting ECOMG.

Liberian Peace Council (LPC);

The LPC often commit slave raids that are eerily similar to the European backed slave traders centuries before. According to Stephen Ellis, they use cannibalism as a form of ethnic cleansing similar to the Bosnian Serbs infamous use of rape. One woman’s husband was killed by the LPC by breaking his ankles and cutting his throat. They then forced the wife to cook the man’s heart. LPC fighters will sometimes burn the gentials and backs of the victems bodies with their heated cutlasses. One case of the LPC war crime is when one man was suspected to be a NPFL rebel burned with their heated cutlesses and evently goreged out one of his eyes to get him to confess to be NPFL. The LPC will also burn villages that are suspected to support the NPFL (which is extremely common in any war). Another extremely common atrocity in the war (again, just like any wars in history) that the LPC commits is the heavy practice of raping women repeatedly. The LPC often uses child soldiers (like all factions in the Liberian Civil Wars) in the war. Another case of LPC atrocities is that a few combatants under the LPC beheaded a mother and her baby. Some LPC fighters also cut open a pregnant woman, and left her and her unborn baby to die.

Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL);

The AFL have also been known to participate in cannibalistic activities. They (like the LPC and both of the ULIMO factions) have been reported to remove their victim's body parts and eat them right in front of civilians. The AFL has preferred to use genocidal tactics against the Gio and the Mano tribes. There has been several cases of AFL troops breaking into peoples houses and then beheading and often mutilating the bodies of the occupants. One particularly infamous incident is when AFL troops massacred and mutilated up to 600 refuges in a church. Although they tend to target children with horrific violence, they are not known to use child soldiers unlike any of the other warring factions.

Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL);

The INPFL have been known to employ the use of child soldiers (again like all factions in the war). One case is that a 15 year old boy was kidnapped by the INPFL, and he was forced to kill (he was a first beaten beaten, because intentionally refused to do it) a captured AFL soldier with a knife. In a lot of cases, the INPFL have been known to torture tactic used by all factions in the war known as “tabay” (basically is when you tie the victim's elbows back behind their shoulders, and the rope is pulled tighter until the ribcages is separated) as a recruiting tool. Their most legendary atrocity was when they captured Samuel Doe himself, and they tortured and killed him and they videotaped the incident. Doe had his ears and genitals cut off on camera. They later cannibalized his corpse later. One particularly interesting practice of the INPFL is that Prince Johnson has been known to have personally killed his own men for crimes as major as rape and for as minor as giving rice bags to people.

National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL);

The NPFL will often when they retake villages from their enemies, they will slaughter the inhabitants because the NPFL suspects collaboration with their enemies. One particularly infamous case of a NPFL atrocity is when a couple of NPFL rebels raped and butchered 5 American nuns. NPFL rebels are commonly reported to slaughter all the Krahns or Mendigos that they can get their hands on. There has been cases of NPFL rebels playing soccer with Krahn human heads. Like all the factions in the war, the NPFL uses child soldiers. Potential recruits are often beaten (sometimes killed) if they refused to join the NPFL. The NPFL will force their child soldiers to take drugs, so they will kill more easier. There are cases of NPFL troops cutting pregnant women open in order to see the sex of the unborn child (similar to their “ally”, the RUF of Sierra Leone). Rape is one of the NPFL’s tactics in the war (rape is one of the oldest weapon of war in history). There has been several cases of NPFL rebels raping women at NPFL controlled checkpoints. They (like all the other factions) practice cannibalism. One case is that NPFL fighters killed a boy, cut out his heart and forced other people to eat it. Another case is that a bunch of NPFL rebels killed 27 women, and then sold their body parts. Another case is that one woman had her hand cut off, and the NPFL rebels drank her blood.