Current Peacekeeping Operations In Africa

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Current Peacekeeping Operations in Africa
Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL, 1999-present)
Since the beginning of conflict in 1991, Sierra Leone's population has suffered greatly at the hands of the marauding Revolutionary United Front (RUF). During nearly a decade of fighting, the RUF has systematically killed and maimed tens of thousands of Leoneans. At the start of the war, Sierra Leone's army, with support from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its military observer group, ECOMOG, tried to defend the government and beat back the rebels.
The following year the Sierra Leonean army toppled its own government and held power until February 1996 when it relinquished control to the newly elected president, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. Yet the military spent little time in their barracks, staging another coup in May 1997, this time joined by the RUF.
Following extensive negotiations and numerous broken peace agreements, the UN Security Council imposed an oil and arms embargo on Sierra Leone on October 8, 1997 and authorized ECOWAS to ensure its implementation through ECOMOG troops. After the continued failure of negotiations and repeated attacks on ECOMOG forces by the RUF, ECOMOG launched a military offensive that led to the collapse of the junta and its expulsion from Freetown. On March 10, 1998, President Kabbah was reinstated as president.
In June 1998, the Security Council established a UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) that documented human rights violations and war atrocities. Yet fighting in Sierra Leone continued, and by January 1999 the RUF held control of much of the countryside and most of the capital, Freetown. UNOMSIL personnel were evacuated before ECOMOG forces again retook the capital. By May 1999, negotiations between the government and rebels were underway and on July 7, the controversial LomÈ Accords were signed, creating a government of national unity in Sierra Leone.
On October 22, 1999, the Secu...