The Sierra Leone Civil War officially started on the twenty-third of March 1991(Britannica). That day a group of armed men and mercenaries calling themselves the Revolutionary United Front or RUF for short commenced guerrilla attacks throughout the backcountry of Sierra Leone. During these attacks, the RUF targeted villages with civilians in order to cause chaos within the nation as millions fled the war and the RUF(Britannica). As these attacks continued the RUF started to take control of Sierra Leone’s diamond resources called blood diamonds in order to fund their war machine which included recruited child soldiers. One if not the most notable being Ishmael Beah(Bey-ah) the author of the book “A Long Way Gone”. In his story, Beah recounts the story of his past and how he lived as a child soldier. Beah wrote about how child soldiers were purposely given drugs and watched movies such as Rambo in order to exhilarate them to get them in the mindset of ruthless soldiers that were invincible to death and destruction(Britannica). This civil war was one of the many in the region causing unrest. Wars in neighboring countries are thought to have influenced the RUF into starting the war(Britannica). The RUF eventually reached Freetown the capital of Sierra Leone which saw foreign intervention from a British force sent to evacuate diplomats from the torn country(Britannica). Later UNAMISL was established by the UN as a peacekeeping mission to end the civil war, reinstate the government, and maintain peace in the region(Britannica).
work cited:
Imperative 