A Multi-National Peacekeeping Force was sent by ECOWAS to restore Peace in Liberia & to protect other West Africans trapped in Monrovia by the Civil War.
ECOMOG managed to get Charles Taylor to sign an Agreement under which he would permit them to begin disarming & encamping his forces so that elections could be organized. Taylor's NPFL turned out to be far from cooperative, however, by 9th Jun 1992, six ECOMOG Soldiers had been killed in an armed clash with Taylor's NPFL rebels.
*ECOMOG UNDER ATTACK*
When Taylor's NPFL attacked Monrovia in Oct 1992, Camp Schiefflin was one of the 1st places hit, and Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) who were encamped there subsequently fought alongside ECOMOG and ULIMO in the effort to repel Taylor's NPFL up until the point at which it switched to a more offensive military posture in 1993. *Since it switched to an offensive posture,* ECOMOG have to call in fresh Brigade to flush out Taylor's NPFL rebels.
*OPERATION CAPTURE BUCHANAN* was a Brigade Group Advance to Contact Operations with 2 Nigerian Battalions Ghana's *AIRBORNE FORCE*, Armoured Troops, Artillery units with Naval Gun Ships & Fighter Aircrafts in support. Ghana's AIRBORNE FORCE constitued ECOMOG GHANBATT 7, and served in Liberia from Feb to Sept 1993.
On 25th Feb, ECOMOG Chief, General Olurin announced a General Amnesty for any NPFL rebels that will surrender to ECOMOG. This amnesty produced some number of NPFL deserters. The outbreak of the War also brought with it a reawakening of the refugee problem, as 100s more were driven from their homes in search of shelter. Guinea, Cote d'ivoire and Ghana all received new waves of Liberian refugees, fleeing either NPFL, ULIMO or ECOMOG bombing raids, which have (albeit probably not intentionally) hit some civilian targets.
*In fact, ECOMOG during the Advance to Contact made substantial advances, capturing Buchanan. As a result, ECOMOG in conjunction with W.H.O & the Monrovia City Corporation, discovered over 3,000 dead bodies.*
ECOMOG took over Grand Bassa County & controlled the Seaport of Buchanan. ECOMOG also controlled Monrovia and an indeterminate amount of territories surrounding it. ULIMO controlled Bomi, Cape Mt & some Lofa Counties. There were some ULIMO Troops around Monrovia, but they were disarmed by ECOMOG. The AFL was apparently restricted to some OPs within ECOMOG territory; just providing protection and security at internally displaced persons' Camps. The rest of Liberia was controlled by Charles Taylor NPFL rebels.
*HARBEL MASSACRE*
On the night of 5th Jun 93, unknown group of soldiers entered a displaced Camp in Harbel & killed about 500 people.
According to survivors, these unknown soldiers came into the camp looking for food, the day after UN distributed rice to them. After the soldiers took their rice, they went on killing spree, murdering about 500 and injuring many people. The fact is that this displaced camp was behind ECOMOG lines, and was supposed to be guarded by the AFL. The AFL Commander said his Troops' failure to come to the aid of the victims was due to the distraction of heavy gunfire in a different part of the compound. It was also not clear who was responsible for the massacre. But some blamed NPFL rebels.
*In Jul 1993, the parties involved in the Civil War returned to Geneva for another Peace Talk, resulting in the signing of a New Agreement in Cotonou, on 25th Jul. The Agreement provides for a Cease fire on 1st Aug 93 to be followed by the formation of a Transitional Government in Sept 93, after which Ghana AIRBORNE returned home. Up to date, the Liberia Civil War has cost Aprox 150,000 lives & has driven 600,000 others to seek refuge in neighbor'n Countries.*
Airborne All the Way and Some More.
Mess with the Best and Die like the Rest.