The United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was an anti-rebel group that participated in the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe had established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of support from the United States by the late 1980s. The Nat ...

(1989–1996). ULIMO was formed in May 1991 by

Krahn The Krahn are an ethnic group of Liberia and Ivory Coast. This group belongs to the Kru language family and its people are sometimes referred to as the Wee, Guéré, Sapo, or Wobe. It is likely that Western contact with the Kru language is the p ...

and Mandingo refugees and soldiers who had fought in the

Armed Forces of Liberia The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and r ...

(AFL) fighters.Damrosch, Lori Fisler. ''Enforcing Restraint: Collective Intervention in Internal Conflicts'', 1993. Page 170. It was led by Alhadji Kromah and Raleigh Seekie, a deputy

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the Doe government. After fighting alongside the Sierra Leonean army against the

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

(RUF), ULIMO forces entered western Liberia in September 1991. The group scored significant gains in areas held by another rebel group – the

National Patriotic Front of Liberia The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1996. Leadership The military aspects of NPFL were led by Charles Taylor, a former governme ...

(NPFL), notably around the

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

mining areas of Lofa and Bomi

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. From its outset, ULIMO was beset with internal divisions and the group effectively broke into two separate militias in 1994: ULIMO-J, an ethnic

faction led by General

Roosevelt Johnson David Roosevelt Johnson (died October 23, 2004) was a Liberian who led a rebel group during the country's civil war. He was not a member of the Krahn ethnic group he fought for, however his wife was Krahn. Biography A former teacher, Johnson join ...

, and ULIMO-K, a Mandingo-based faction led by Alhaji G. V. Kromah. ULIMO-J was poorly ruled, which led to leadership struggles and general discontent among its fighters. It had approximately 8,000

combatants Combatant is the legal status of an individual who has the right to engage in hostilities during an armed conflict. The legal definition of "combatant" is found at article 43(2) of Additional Protocol I (AP1) to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It ...

. ULIMO-K was relatively united under Kromah, in contrast to the fractious nature of the ULIMO-J. It had approximately 12,000 combatants. The group, both before and after its breakup, committed serious violations of

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

List of ULIMO Commanders

Mohammed Jabbateh Mohammed Jabbateh (born September 1966, sometimes Jabateh), also known by his nom de guerre Jungle Jabbah, is a Liberian war criminal and former United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) and ULIMO-K commander who was convicted i ...

aka "Jungle Jabbah" (ULIMO-K since 1994) *

(ULIMO-J since 1994) *

Kunti Kamara Kunti Kamara, a.k.a. Kunti Kumara,
June 18, 2021, ' ...

Alieu Kosiah Alieu Kosiah (born 3 March 1975 in Ganta, Nimba County, Liberia) is a former commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) faction, a rebel group that participated in the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996) which ...

* Alhadji Kromah (ULIMO-K since 1994) *

General Butt Naked Joshua Milton Blahyi (born September 30, 1971), better known by his nom de guerre General Butt Naked, is a Liberian evangelical preacher, writer and former warlord best known for his actions during the First Liberian Civil War. During the con ...

(ULIMO-J since 1994) * Raleigh Seekie * Armah Youlo

References

{{Reflist History of Liberia Rebel groups in Liberia Krahn people