The siege of Freetown was a battle during the

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...

. It began when

Johnny Paul Koroma Major Johnny Paul Koroma (born 9 May 1960; declared dead 1 June 2003) was the head of state of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. Youth and education Koroma was born to Limba people (Sierra Leone), Limba parents in Tombodu, in the ...

took over the powerFreetown under siege
/ref> from

Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (February 16, 1932 – March 13, 2014) was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Ka ...

and began a dictatorship. In response,

ECOMOG The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

troops, led by

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, helped the

Sierra Leone Army The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) are the armed forces of Sierra Leone, responsible for the territorial security of Sierra Leone's borders and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone, within the framework of the 1991 Si ...

to attack and remove Koroma from power and Kabbah was elected back in post. In revenge, Koroma's allies, the RUF, assaulted the city but were forced to retreat.

In fiction

The battle was portrayed in the film ''

Blood Diamond ''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...

'' (taking place in 1999, in spite of the RUF take over, taking place in 1997).

References

Bibliography

*Mark Malan, 'Layered Response' To an African Conflict Or muddling through in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone Civil War {{mil-hist-stub